Los Alerces National Park from someone who lives at its north entrance: the lakes, the roads, the ancient alerce forest, riding it on horseback, and when to come.
Everything the internet says about Los Alerces National Park is true and written from the outside: it is a UNESCO World Heritage site, the alerce trees are among the oldest living things on Earth, the lakes are glacial and absurdly clear. What those pages cannot tell you is what the park is like to actually use: which lakes you can reach by road, what the drive in involves, what a Tuesday in February feels like on the trail, and where to sleep so the park is at your door instead of at the end of a long drive. We live at the north entrance, in Villa Lago Rivadavia near Cholila, so this is that guide.
Planning days in the park?
Tell us your dates and what you want to do, ride, fish, or walk, and we will tell you honestly how to fit it into a stay.
What Los Alerces actually is
The park was created in 1937 to protect the alerce, Fitzroya cupressoides, a conifer endemic to this corner of South America and the second longest-living tree species in the world; the oldest alerces here have stood for more than 2,600 years. In 2017 UNESCO added the park to the World Heritage List. The rest of it is a chain of glacial lakes strung along the Chilean border, Rivadavia, Verde, Menéndez, Futalaufquen and their smaller neighbors, connected by short, clear rivers and wrapped in temperate forest of the Valdivian type, one of only a handful of temperate forest systems in the world and the only one in Latin America.
Getting inside: three gates, one honest warning
The park has three road gates, and two practical ways to reach them. From the south, you fly to Esquel: the central gate is about 38 kilometers from town via RN259 and RP71, Villa Futalaufquen, where the park administration sits, is about 52, and the south gate is about 10 kilometers from Trevelin. From the north, you come through Cholila to the north gate near Villa Lago Rivadavia, and you are at Lago Rivadavia within minutes of the village. One road, Provincial Route 71, runs through the park from the north gate to the center, skirting lakes Rivadavia, Verde, and Futalaufquen as it goes, and inside the boundary it is mostly gravel: perfectly drivable, best taken slowly, at 40 kilometers an hour or less, and slower after rain, which turns the smaller side roads to mud long before it troubles the main one. Allow real time for it. The road is part of the visit, not the obstacle to it.
The practical consequence: if your base is Esquel, every day in the park starts and ends with that drive. If your base is at the north entrance, the park starts where breakfast ends.
Recent wildfires burned parts of the park, and you will see some burnt stretches from the road as you drive through. The main attractions covered in this guide are still in good shape, and it is better to hear about the burnt sections now than to be surprised by them on the drive.
The lakes, and which ones you can reach in a day
Lago Rivadavia: the north entrance lake, reachable by road, with the Rivadavia river draining it south.
Lago Verde and the Arrayanes: mid-park, road-accessible, with the footbridge area that most day visitors see.
Lago Futalaufquen: the southern anchor, road-accessible, where park services concentrate.
Lago Menéndez: the deep-park lake, and the one that keeps its secrets: the famous ancient alerce stands are reached by boat, not by car. You park at La Pasarela on RP71, walk about 45 minutes, over the suspension bridge above the Arrayanes and along the trail to Puerto Chucao, and take the catamaran across the lake to Puerto Sagrario, where a guided 2-kilometer walk leads through the Valdivian forest to the old alerces, ending at El Abuelo, roughly 2,600 years old. Sailings vary by season, so check the schedule and book ahead: no tickets are sold at Puerto Chucao. A longer summer version starts from Puerto Limonao.
If you have one day, the north-to-mid-park run covers Rivadavia, Verde, and the Arrayanes without ever feeling rushed. The alerce boat trip is its own day.
The water inside the park
The lakes and the rivers between them, the Rivadavia, the Arrayanes, the upper Carrileufú country at the north gate, are the same system we fish all season, and the reason the water is that clear is the same reason the fishing is that good: the lakes buffer and filter everything. If the fishing side is what brought you here, the complete guide to the Carrileufú covers it properly, and the fish themselves get their own article in the trout of the Carrileufú River.
Seeing it on horseback
The park and the country around it were worked on horseback long before they were photographed from cars, and a horse is still the best vehicle here: it crosses rivers, climbs through forest no road touches, and moves at the speed the landscape was meant to be seen at. From the lodge we ride October to April, from short rides for fishing weeks up to a full three-day program, three days in the saddle with four nights at the lodge, guides with more than twenty years in this terrain, groups capped at ten, no camping and no experience required, rated moderate. In three hours you see the valley; in three days you see the country.
Ask about riding here
Tell us your dates and how many riders and we will send back what is open and how the days run.
What lives here
The park shelters the huemul, the endangered native Andean deer, and the pudú, the smallest deer in the world, alongside puma and the monito del monte, a tiny nocturnal marsupial older than the forest's name for it. Overhead, Andean condors are a possible sight, and the birdlife around the lakes fills a trip on its own. You will not see all of it; that is rather the point of a place like this.
When to come
The park is open all year, and its high season runs November to April. Spring (November, December) is snow on the peaks, full rivers, flowers, and cold nights. High summer (January, February) is 20 to 30 degree days, long light, and the most visitors the park gets, which by most parks' standards is still quiet. Autumn (March, April) turns the forest gold and red and empties the trails; it is the photographers' season and ours. In winter the park stays open, with snow and shorter days, so check road and weather conditions before driving in; the lodge closes for the season.
Staying at the north entrance
Most visitors day-trip the park from Esquel. The alternative is to stay at the north entrance and let the park be the front yard: our small mountain lodge sits in Villa Lago Rivadavia near Cholila, minutes from the Rivadavia gate, with five rooms, a season that runs October to April, and the riding and fishing above run from the door. One more thing this valley holds, for the history-minded: Cholila is where Butch Cassidy, the Sundance Kid, and Etta Place homesteaded after leaving the United States, and their restored log cabin still stands in the Villa El Blanco valley on RP71, about half an hour north of the lodge. It is open daily and free to visit, with the little Museo Bar La Legal a few hundred meters from the turnoff for the photographs and the rest of the story.
Why is Los Alerces National Park famous?+
For the alerce, one of the longest-living tree species on Earth, with individual trees over 2,600 years old, and for its chain of clear glacial lakes. UNESCO added the park to the World Heritage List in 2017.
How do you get to Los Alerces National Park?+
Fly to Esquel and enter at the central gate, about 38 kilometers from town, or at the south gate near Trevelin; or come through Cholila to the north gate near Villa Lago Rivadavia. Provincial Route 71 runs through the park from the north gate to the center, much of it gravel.
Can you see the ancient alerce trees by car?+
No. The famous alerce stands on Lago Menéndez are reached by boat excursion. The road network reaches lakes Rivadavia, Verde, and Futalaufquen.
When is the best time to visit Los Alerces?+
November to April. January and February have the warmest weather and the most visitors; March and April have the autumn colors and the quietest trails.
Does Los Alerces National Park charge an entrance fee?+
Yes. An entry fee is charged at all three gates, every day in high season and on weekends and holidays the rest of the year, with a general rate for foreign visitors and lower rates for Argentine residents, Chubut residents, and students. Multi-day and annual passes are available, and tickets can be bought online. For fishing weeks at La Pilarica, park entry fees are included.
Is there lodging near Los Alerces National Park?+
Yes, on both ends: park services around Lago Futalaufquen in the south, and lodges at the north entrance in Villa Lago Rivadavia and Cholila, including La Pilarica, minutes from the Rivadavia gate.