It’s curious to consider how a region gets famous, and the fine difference between popular and overrated. Is it the difference between online-generated expectations and reality? Is it the crowds of people? Is it the burgeoning prices? Or some perfect, unfortunate combination of the above.

Parque Nacional Los Glaciares is probably the most heavily visited area of Patagonia, iconic for Petito Moreno Glacier in the south, near El Calafate, and for the Cerro Fitz Roy mastiff in the north, by El Chalten. The accessibility of natural beauty from these two towns is a key reason for their popularity. Petito Moreno is an hour bus ride each way, but only a 30 minute walk to see an advancing glacier. And while trekking to Fitz Roy is a fairly long day (25km return), the trailhead is right in town. These two small Argentine towns have a mountain-village charm that – for us – was somewhat worn down by exorbitant prices. 

Prior to summer 2024 – 2025, there were no fees to enter Los Glaciares. Prior to January 2025, there were no camping fees in the park, and wild camping was permitted – but all of this changed, quickly, without warning, and without the infrastructure to support the changes. 

Entry to Los Glaciares now costs 45k ARS per day – although Guardparque Stations only exist on some trailheads, and the Guardparques are only serviced from 7am-5pm, so avoiding the fees is very much doable. A night’s stay at any of the campsites in the park costs 15K ARS per person – with long-drops available, but no campers’ shelter.

As in our previous budget posts, the high cost of goods is some unlucky combination of Argentina’s changing economy and Patagonia’s isolation, but all prices are also driven by demand, of which there is plenty. Of course, we are complaining as reasonably well-off tourists – so if we found the prices in supermarkets rough, it only stands that the locals have it even harder.

But while consuming food and booking accommodation supports the local community, it sounds like the changes to the park and park fees themselves are having little impact on the local people or the park maintenance itself. Although, whether that is the truth or a tale designed to make us all feel better, we have no proof.

We’d say that in general, we’re pretty rules-driven people. We like lines. We think sign-in books are cool. We’re comfortable paying for an honesty campsite. And we both instantly feel guilty when we do something that we know isn’t right – so camping in Los Glaciares was a mixed bag for us. 

We planned the trip to El Chalten based on information collected from the previous year – which turned out to be wildly wrong. It wasn’t until we had booked flights in and out that we checked again – on reddit – only to find out about all the changes to prices. We were already massively over-budget in Patagonia (a good start to a year travelling!), and couldn’t even remotely afford an extra 60USD each per day. Our only option was to hide out in the park, free camp in secluded places, and enjoy the solitude as much as possible.

Tell me everything:

Overall, we spent 11 days in Los Glaciares, with one restock. Five days were on the Huemul, which we’ve detailed in another post, then another 6 in the ‘main’ section of the park.

Skipping Petito Moreno

We flew from Ushuaia to El Calafate, as we’d already travelled through Punta Arenas and Puerto Natales, and didn’t need to return (and it ended up cheaper). We decided to only spend a single night in El Calafate, skipping a visit to the Petito Moreno Glacier. If you’ve the cash to burn – don’t do what we did! It does sound spectacular. The walkways are close to the glacier front, so you get stunning views all around. In the afternoon, it’s supposedly common to see the glacier calving, where it sheds chunks of ice. But it’s 45k ARS entry (as part of Los Glaciares), plus 50k ARS for the return bus. That’s about 100USD ea…

Bus Prices: Calafate to Chalten

Talking about extortionate – buses in Argentina are far more expensive than those in Chile. The three hour ride between the two mountain towns will set you back 38K ARS per person, each way. Apparently, there is one bus that’s cheaper, but we don’t think it runs often (or at all) anymore.

Camping at Laguna Sucia

After the Huemul Circuit, we restocked and reentered the park late, snagging an uninspired camping spot in some trees a couple of hours in. The next day, we continued on with the intention of enjoying Fitz Roy from the neighbouring Laguna Sucia, rather than the main track, and camping there the night – we’d read and heard that there were lots of good campsites on this track. As mentioned, we had snapped a picture of an old park map, which had multiple tracks that are no longer displayed or ‘recommended’. So when we went to turn off onto the Laguna Sucia track, there were a couple of signs telling us to turn back! We ploughed on, crossed the river and did some fun boulder hopping to get to the laguna – which is absolutely worth it. It was super quiet, and the weather was stunning – no wind, no clouds, and only one other person, who wasn’t camping there. We picked a spot with a big rocky barrier someone had kindly built, and settled in for a calm evening.

Little did we know – although perhaps it should’ve been obvious by the absence of other campers at the laguna – a storm was coming over the mountain. And that’s the problem with camping near such dramatic peaks; the sudden changes they can cause. From 9pm, the wind and rain picked up more, and more, and more, until we were pulling on rainproofs, crawling out of our shaking tent, restaking pegs and tightening guys – and eventually, changing clothes completely, packing up everything non-sleep related, and considering packing down and leaving. But at 3am, the storm eased off a bit (to the point where we didn’t have to hold up the tent’s buckling pole system), and we slept uneasily until sunrise. We snapped a cute photo and enjoyed the morning light on the mountains, slept a few more hours, then made our way down the mountain and away from the horrors of the previous night.

Camping by Lago Electrico

We’d wanted to spend two nights at Laguna Sucia recovering from the Huemul, but there was no way we were taking another chance there. Our next goal was Lago Electrico – at the far end of the park, and far away from the big crowds. It also turns out, Lago Electrico is actually private land and isn’t technically part of the park. There’s a shitty little barbed wire fence that has been maneuvered to fit a hiker, but otherwise we were easily able to move between the two without any guard stations.

From the base of the Fitz Roy trail, we traversed down the true left of the Río Blanco, which enables you to take a side trip to some cool views of Glaciar Piedras Blancas. There’s a bit of rock hopping around this section too, which is fun, but will slow you down a bit. With the pack weight and the tiredness, this actually ended up being a much longer day than we anticipated.

Río Electrico and the valley run perpendicular to the Cerro Fitz Roy mastiff – that is, it runs in the direction that the storm came the night before. This didn’t become obvious until we exited the cover of the forest, right after the Piedra Del Fraile refugio. Camping at the refugio was available for 20k ARS a night, so we continued on to brave the winds…

… which did not work out in our favour. It took over an hour to reach the shores of Lago Electrico, where again, we’d read there were good camping spots – all of which were super exposed! There were a few ‘sheltered’ areas amongst the rocks on the way, but the wind simply said no – it must’ve been gusting at well over 100kph, and always found a way to rush around or over the surrounding escarpment. As we retreated back from the beach, we tried to set up in three different spots, quite unsuccessfully, and eventually were forced to run back to the trees, racing a rain front and the dying sunlight, and setting up camp alongside the cliff-face ascending to Piedra Negra. It was cookies and nutella for dinner.

We spent three nights in the same spot – the next day, the sun shone and the trees gave us shelter, so we spent the whole day lazing around, eating our spare food and enjoying the break. The following day, the rain packed it in again, so we had a slow morning before taking a day-walk back to the shores of Lago Electrico. Emma really wanted to see the marked ‘Playita’ campsite on the map, but the river was impossible to cross without getting boots wet – so in the spirit of taking it easy, we enjoyed the view of the back of Fitz Roy and headed back for an early night.

Cerro Fitz Roy

Day 10 in the park – a few hours walking took us from Lago Electrico and back to the big crowds, and it was time to join in – for the most famous peaks in Patagonia. Actually, only Emma ascended to admire Fitz Roy from the traditional spot, and Awal stayed with the packs (a kind gesture, but also driven by being a wee bit hoha). It was a gorgeous day; although the wind was howling the whole time, the clouds would part to expose the peaks. What I found most hilarious was the line of people waiting patiently to stand on ‘the’ rock in the laguna, which provides the best shot of you, the clear blue waters, and the dramatic peaks. Do take care heading up – there is a steady line of people in both directions, and some places are well worn and quite slippery. It’s great fun to race up and down (especially being pack-less after walking 10 days with a pack!), but watch out for the wind in the exposed sections, it will blow you over if you’re moving too fast…

After snapping a few shitty (hilarious) selfies with ol’ Fitz, we carried on to find a new campsite, again running away from a rainfront, and trying to find a spot nice and close to a trailhead for an early morning exit. We eventually set up near Laguna Capri, and had an early night hiding from the rain.

Over and Out

We exited super early the next morning down the main Fitz Roy track, and en route were greeted by dozens and dozens of other early risers! So many people complete this trail, from keenos who want to see the sunrise to trail runners getting their ks up to the majority – who just want to get through before the guard gets onto their shift. Since we’d been off the main tracks in the popular hours, this final part of our hike was the real ‘holy shit’ moment of the density of people walking in Los Glaciares.

And it was a good thing we left early – we rocked up to the bus stop to check our tickets at about 7:50am, and found out that our midday bus was cancelled and we could only get on the 8am bus! There was a rush to grab some snacks, and then it was a prompt return to El Calafate and the biggest pot of post-hike maccy cheese you’ve ever seen. Delicious!

Keep it Short and Sweet

Normal Routes

So we did a few odd things, and spent a few extra days just chilling out, but in the end didn’t backtrack on ourselves that much. We’ve put a little annotated map below, with a similar circuit and some options for wild camping that we thought might be good. Aside from our recommendation, there are apparently two massive circuits that you can complete – one that links up the Huemul to the main attractions instead of re-entering in the town, although you’ll need to do an extra Tyrolean and hire the harness for your whole trip. There’s also a super hardcore route, which you should only do guided or with expertise, that takes you over the ice sheet itself from Lago Electrico down to midway on the Huemul – it sounds so amazing!

So… Our Recommendation

In conclusion, we had a superb time enjoying the hiking in Los Glaciares – there are plenty of trails to fit a journey to your liking, and plenty of spots that are less crowded to explore. What we did absolutely not enjoy was the continuous stress. Will someone find us without a ticket? Are we allowed to camp here? Is someone going to fine us? Is any of it worth it? On this trip, we realized the extent to which we are not rulebreakers, and while we loved the walking we were able to do, we aren’t sure that we could stomach doing it again.

So, a lesson for us and maybe some insight for anyone reading, always stay true to your values, because doing the opposite doesn’t feel good!