Nahuel Huapi National Park

Information

It is the oldest national park in Argentina, having been created in 1922 under the name of 'Parque Nacional del Sud'. It is also one of the largest in the country with 717261 hectares, which is the sum of the areas under the management categories of national park, strict nature reserve and national reserve. The northern part of Lake Nahuel Huapi belongs to the province of Neuquén and the southern part to Río Negro.

The time of the year to visit the park depends on the activity you want to do:
- Winter (July to September): these are the coldest months, when most of the landscape is covered in white. The activity par excellence is skiing in places with infrastructure such as Villa Catedral. In that season there are several areas of the park that are inaccessible or are disabled due to the accumulation of ice and/or snow.
- Summer: the warmest months (November to April) are the ideal ones to visit the green forest. The large dimensions of the park mean that it has several sectors, trails of varying difficulty and many tourist attractions such as mountains, rivers, waterfalls, etc. Within its limits it includes extensive lakes such as the Gutiérrez, Guillelmo, Mascardi, Nahuel Huapi, Steffen, Traful, etc. There are also many campsites, some situated in good locations such as on the shores of lakes or near the start of trails.

How to get there:
- The main access route from the southern part of the park is San Carlos de Bariloche which has an airport and bus terminal. The northern part of the park is Villa La Angostura, which has a bus terminal.
- The Cardenal Antonio Samore international pass allows you to arrive by land from Osorno and other Chilean cities.
- National Route 40 crosses the park from north to south, passing through Villa La Angostura and Bariloche. From there, secondary roads lead to different sectors of the park. It also connects with other tourist towns outside the park, such as San Martín de los Andes in the north and El Bolsón in the south. A section of this road is called the Rod of the Seven Lakes (in Spanish 'Ruta de los Siete Lagos).