How To Visit Huemul Glacier From El Chalten, Patagonia

How To Visit Huemul Glacier From El Chalten, Patagonia

The Huemul glacier is a nice little hike near the town of El Chalten, in the Patagonia region of Argentina.

I did this hike recently and really enjoyed it! It’s short, easy, and relatively inexpensive, and you get to see some nice mountains, a glacier, and a bright blue lake.

It’s a great way to spend a rest day between bigger hikes like Fitz Roy and Laguna Torre, and most people visiting El Chalten don’t know about this spot yet, so it’s still a bit of a hidden gem.

This travel guide will explain how to get to the Huemul glacier, and what to expect on the hike!

Quick Facts*

• Distance: 3 kilometers (1.9 mi)
• Elevation Gain: 215 meters (700 ft)
• Max Altitude: 725 meters (2,375 ft)
• Difficulty: Easy

*These stats are for the round trip hike

Bridge crossing

How To Get There

The Huemul glacier is located about 35 kilometers north of El Chalten town, and you can get there by car or bus.

The drive takes 1.5 hours by car or 2 hours by bus. It’s all on narrow, winding gravel roads, but it’s comfortable enough.

Your hotel in El Chalten can book the bus for you, or you can book it through Zona Austral. I found it easier to arrange through my hotel.

Mountain views on the way to Huemul

The bus costs 25,000 pesos per person for a roundtrip ticket, which is around $23 USD as of 2025. It’s well worth it!

The best views on the way to Huemul are on the left side of the bus, where you can see Fitz Roy and some other great mountains.

I took the bus at 8 AM, and then came back at 4 PM. That gave me 6 hours of free time, which was more than enough time to do the hike and also see the nearby Lago del Desierto.

If you have extra time, you can join a boat ride around the Lago del Desierto!

Parking lot at the trailhead for Huemul glacier

Kiosk where you pay the entrance fee

Entrance Fee

There is an entrance fee for the Huemul glacier hike since it’s located on private property.

The fee is 10k pesos (~$9 USD) per person as of 2025, and you can pay it with cash or credit card.

The trailhead has plenty of parking spaces, restrooms, and a small kiosk where you can buy snacks, drinks, and souvenirs.

Start of the hike to Huemul

Follow the signs

Huemul Glacier Hike: What To Expect

This hike is short and easy, with a bit of steepness near the end. You might not even break a sweat.

Before you start hiking, you’ll already get a nice view of the glacier from the trailhead as you walk through the fence and past a cow pasture.

From here, the trail is mostly shaded by a mossy green forest, and there are several nice waterfalls along the way that are worth a short detour.

       

Forest path

It takes less than 30 minutes of hiking to reach the base of the lake and see the glacier, which is spectacular.

Sadly I didn’t have great weather so it was a bit cloudy and rainy, but on a sunny day the water can be extremely blue!

Sometimes if you’re lucky, you can see wild huemuls here (south Andean deer), which is how the place gets its name.

I did see a few mosquitoes at the lake, and I’ve seen some reports of flies, so you might want to bring bug spray just in case.

Huemul glacier & lake

There were a handful of other hikers at the lake, but for the most part I had the trail all to myself, which was nice. Most people still don’t know about it.

If you feel like going further, there’s a side trail up the ridge on the east side of the lake, giving you views of the lake from above.

It only adds 15 minutes to the hike, so I’d highly recommend it!

Above the lake

Huemul glacier

Map Of The Trail

Here’s a map from AllTrails that shows the hiking route and elevation profile.

If you sign up for AllTrails Plus, you can download the map and use it offline while hiking. It’s very handy!

More Patagonia Travel Guides

Thanks for looking! I hope you enjoyed this guide for visiting the Huemul glacier near El Chalten, Argentina.

Don’t forget to check out my other travel guides for Patagonia before you go!