How To Do The Fitz Roy Hike In Patagonia (Laguna De Los Tres)
The famous Patagonia region of Argentina has some amazing hiking trails, but the very best would have to be the Fitz Roy hike!
This entire trek is full of great scenery, and at the end you get to see a spectacular blue glacial lake called the Laguna De Los Tres, which sits at the foot of Mount Fitz Roy, one of the most impressive and iconic peaks in South America.
It’s a challenging hike with plenty of distance and elevation gain, but most people will still find it very doable. And even if you don’t go all the way to the lakes, you can still get amazing pictures of the mountains at the mirador (viewpoint) after only a moderate amount of hiking from the town of El Chalten.
This travel guide will explain how to hike to the Laguna De Los Tres, and everything you need to know before you go!
Fitz Roy Quick Facts*
- Distance: 22 kilometers (14 miles) return
- Elevation Gain: 1,050 meters (3,445 feet)
- Ending Elevation: 1,175 meters (3,850 feet)
- Duration: 7 – 9 hours return
- Difficulty: Moderate / Hard
*These stats are for the full hike to the lake of Laguna De Los Tres from El Chalten. The mirador (viewpoint) is shorter and easier.
Where Is Mount Fitz Roy Located?
The Fitz Roy hike is located directly by the small town of El Chalten, in Argentina’s famous Patagonia region.
El Chalten has comfy hotels and restaurants for tourists, but it’s a very small town, so you can easily reach the starting point for this hike from any part of town.
How To Get To El Chalten
There’s no airport in El Chalten, so the closest airport for this hike is the small international one in El Calafate (FTE), which has direct flights from Buenos Aires, Cordoba, Ushuaia, and other places.
The flight from Buenos Aires to El Calafate takes about 3 hours and it’s offered by multiple airlines, with pretty reasonable prices. There are two airports in Buenos Aires (AEP or EZE) and you can use either of them to fly here. You can shop for flights to Argentina on Skyscanner.
Once you arrive in El Calafate, it’s a 3 hour drive to El Chalten. You can get there with a bus, private shuttle, or rental car. The bus service is offered by multiple companies with regular departures.
If you’re short on time, there are also day tours from El Calafate to Laguna De Los Tres (more on that below).
Best Tours To Fitz Roy & Patagonia
If you’re on a tight schedule and want to visit Patagonia without much advance planning, GetYourGuide has day tours for El Chalten and El Calafate, including some of the best hikes like Laguna De Los Tres!
They have high-rated Fitz Roy day tours that include hotel pickup and drop-off, plus transportation from El Calafate to El Chalten, and optional lunch. A tour like this is not required for the hike, but it can still be a good option if you want to simplify things. They also have day tours to Perito Moreno glacier and other top sights in Patagonia.
We’ve used GetYourGuide for lots of tours and activities around the world, and they’re great. Highly recommended!
Laguna De Los Tres Hike: What To Expect
The hike to Fitz Roy is an out and back trail that is mostly flat except for a few kilometers of uphill trekking at the start, and then again at the end of the trail.
This is a very popular hike, and it’s usually done as a day hike, but there are also campgrounds along the trail if you want to stay longer and combine it into a loop hike with the nearby Laguna Torre.
The sections below will explain each part of the Fitz Roy hike and what to expect!
Starting The Hike From El Chalten
When you first start the hike, it’s uphill right away. In fact, the first few kilometers have a big chunk of the total elevation gain of the whole trail.
Along the way, you’ll pass some downed trees that make a nice place to sit and rest a minute, and there are kilometer markers to let you know how far you’ve gone on the trail.
For this first part of the hike you’ll mostly be walking through a forest, but there are occasional clearings with great views of El Chalten town and other scenery.
Las Vueltas River Viewpoint
After hiking about 1 kilometer from El Chalten, you’ll exit the trees and pass a nice little viewpoint of the Las Vueltas river (pictured above).
Here, you’ll get your first great sights of the hike, with the river winding through the valley below, and mountains on all sides.
The Patagonian wind is usually crazy here, so you won’t want to stay very long. But it’s still a great spot to take some quick photos.
Laguna Capri
After hiking about 3.3 kilometers, there’s a fork in the path where you can choose to go to either a lake (Laguna Capri) or the Fitz Roy viewpoint.
I would recommend doing the viewpoint on your way up and the lake on your way down. There is also a campground at Laguna Capri if you plan to stay longer.
Mirador Del Fitz Roy Viewpoint
After hiking about 4 kilometers (2.5 miles) from El Chalten, you’ll arrive at the ‘Mirador Del Fitz Roy’ viewpoint, which has some of the most spectacular views of the entire hike.
On a clear day, you have a front row seat to see Mount Fitz Roy and the jagged peaks of Patagonia. Even though the mountains are still far away, they feel so close here! There’s a handy sign at the viewpoint labeling all of the mountain peaks for you.
It really is one of the most stunning sights in the world. The only difference here is that you can’t see the lake of Laguna De Los Tres. That comes later.
This viewpoint is popular with day hikers, but there’s plenty of space to spread out and take photos. It’s a good spot to break into snacks and drinks, and there’s also a vault toilet in the forest near the clearing.
You can reach the Mirador Del Fitz Roy viewpoint in about 1.5 hours of hiking from El Chalten. All in all, it’s perfect if you want to see great scenery on a shorter and easier hike than going all the way to Laguna De Los Tres!
Secret Waterfall
After hiking about 5.3 kilometers from El Chalten, there’s a short spur trail where you can go see a secret waterfall. The location is marked with a small icon on Google Maps and AllTrails.
This is a nice little waterfall with Mount Fitz Roy in the background, and you only have to walk about 150 meters from the main trail to see it! There’s really no danger of getting lost.
Even at the end of summer, the waterfall is still active, and it’s bigger in person than it looks in the pictures. It’s a great addition to your trek if you have a bit of extra time and want to take some more photos of Patagonia.
Fitz Roy Valley To Poincenot
For most of the rest of the trek, you’ll be walking through a flat valley trail with little to no elevation gain or obstacles.
This is the easiest section of the hike, and it’s one of the most enjoyable parts in my opinion, because the path is almost completely flat, so you can just enjoy the scenery of Patagonia without working up a sweat.
Along the way, you’ll get to see ponds, marshes, meadows, and streams running through the valley, with the ever present Mount Fitz Roy looming in front of you the whole time.
The photo ops here are endless. If you do the hike in autumn, you can see lots of fall leaf colors, but especially red and orange.
You’ll also notice another glacier approaching in the distance. That’s Piedras Blancas, and there’s a spur trail to see it up close if you have time.
Going to the Piedras Blancas glacier viewpoint adds about 2 kilometers in each direction and it’s relatively flat as well.
Is The Fitz Roy Hike Worth It?
Yes, this hike is absolutely worth the effort!
Fitz Roy is one of the most impressive mountains I’ve ever seen. The lake is wonderful too. Even if you don’t have enough energy to go all the way to Laguna De Los Tres, you can still enjoy some amazing sights at the earlier viewpoints.
It’s a bucket list trek for sure, and easily one of the best day hikes anywhere in South America. On a clear day, I’d even say it’s one of the very best hikes in the world.