Trailhead to Fitz Roy | Tourist Attraction

December 21st, 2023 by Valentin Storage

Lugar seguro y confortable para estacionar motorhome. no dispone de electricidad,ni agua, ni wifi.

October 12th, 2023 by Overlandsite

If you were to aim for the first Mirador,

March 19th, 2023 by xtgfamily

parking lot where you can park for the departure to the Laguna de los tres. we stayed there for 2 nights, very quiet. long walk, given for 8 hours and 24 km round trip. As a family with kids, youngest age 6, took us 14hrs round trip with about 4hr break. there is an average climb on the first 3 km, then 6 km of flat and a big drop on the last km. exhausting but not impossible. bring warm clothes because at the top it is cold even in summer. provide at least 2 liters of water per person. there are several rivers where you can recharge your water bottles. provide a light if you are late on the return. magnificent view, on the way you will see the piedras Blancas glacier and if you go around the Laguna de los tres on the left you will see the Laguna sucia and the Rio blanco glacier.

parking où vous pourrez stationner pour le départ vers la Laguna de los tres. nous y sommes restés 2 nuits, très calme. marche longue, donnée pour 8 h et 24 km aller retour. en famille avec des enfants, le plus jeune âge de 6 ans, ça nous a pris 14 h aller retour avec environ 4 h de pause. il y a une montée moyenne sur les 3 premier km, puis 6 km de plat et un gros dénivelé sur le dernier km. épuisant mais pas infaisable. prévoir des vêtements chaud car tout en haut il fait froid même en été. prévoir au moins 2 litres d’eau par personne. il y a plusieurs rivières où vous pourrez recharger vos gourdes. prévoir une lumière si vous tardez sur le retour. vue magnifique, en chemin vous verrez le glacier piedras Blancas et si vous contournez la Laguna de los tres par la gauche vous verrez la Laguna sucia et le glacier Rio blanco.

March 17th, 2023 by Babs&Ballie

Parking area from where the hike towards Fitz Roy begins. Great place if you're going to do the hike. We parked here after horseback riding and dinner at Estancia Bonanza, wishing to save as much time as possible the next day so we could start early. Would not recommend staying after the hike as early hikers may wake you up the next day earlier than you might like! It gets busy around 6 am.

February 2nd, 2023 by annesteeghs

We drove from the visitors centre free parking to the parking of this trail, and started to walk at 4 am to see the sunrise. It's about 1.30h walking, and the sunrise started around 6:30. We watched it at the Fitz Roy mirador, really really beautiful!
When it's cloudy, I'm afraid you won't be able to see the sunrise.

January 24th, 2023 by BTL

Took us 6h30 return to the Laguna de los tres / FitzRoy mountain view. We did it in the afternoon (the morning was too cloudy), and by the time we got there it had completely opened up. So if you’re short on time and can’t wait for a “good weather day”, I’d still give it a shot, you might get lucky. The trail is very busy, but it’s still very much worth it! Amazing scenery. As said, the last 1.2km is the steepest, with a lot of wind and loose rocks. Bring warm clothes!

February 16th, 2022 by leandradiane

We started at the trailhead at 3am and arrived at the overlook point around 6am to watch the sunrise. Bring gloves, a hat, and hand warmers if you have them! Absolutely spectacular to watch the sunrise hit the peaks up close. You can also do a 5km, mostly level side trip to the Mirador Piedras Blancas, -- for a total of 30km for the day, if it's too much effort to organize transportation to/from the Hostel Pilar. Stunning views all around.

February 2nd, 2020 by thomasbouddha

I recommend checking the weather for sunny days before coming to El Chalten as even in summer the weather can be bad several days in a row, and then the Fitz Roy won't be visible. We arrived on a Saturday and the next day with good weather was the following Wednesday. You can also check the amount of clouds on windguru.cz

August 17th, 2019 by lena.cavatica

Doable in winter as well as long as it didn't snow a lot the day before. Just rent some crampons (ice axe is not necessary) since the last steep part gets slippery (no ice, just very compressed snow and some pretty steep parts). You can rent crampons for less then 5€ per pair at Viento Oeste, some meters before the entrance)
Plus, if you are motivated enough, try to start the hike ~1,5h before sunrise. Then you reach the first mirador when the sun gets up and the whole mountain will be completely red for some minutes. To my mind, this was the most impressive part of the whole hike.
The hike in general is easy, as mentioned before, first a bit up, then 7km straight, then 1km very steep. Completely doable if you are in normal shape, easy if you are used to mountaineering. Make sure you go all the way up, it's worth it in each season.

December 18th, 2017 by kevandhazelsadventure

No longer able to free camp here. You have to stay opposite visitors centre. From here you do the 7-9 hour Fitzroy hike to Laguna de los Tres. The first hour is steep then about 7 km flat then the last km is tough going, up for an hour and a good bit of scrambling. Be careful of wind changing as it can be very dangerous up there. The views the whole way are magnificent and it's a must do hike. You can park your motorhome or van at the trailhead for the day just not stay at night. Free drinking water tap right at start of trail and loads of clean streams along the way to fill up your water bottles.

November 24th, 2017 by susanne.olsthoorn

Now has a No motorhome sign. Not sure if they check. We stayed across from park visitor office when you enter town.

November 24th, 2017 by betamodiano

There is a sign saying no campers overnight. And the police car does rounds all through the night, so I wouldn't recommend staying at this place. There were campers overnight across the road from the visitor's center at the entry of town.

April 14th, 2017 by BK EXPLORE

Stayed here with many other Overlander's. This time of year was wonderful, no wind, the trees are changing so it gives extra beautiful color. Perfect , a little busy during the day we could hear hikers going up but not bad

March 15th, 2017 by gabriel.wappler

Only place to freecamp in town. No facilities around expect for portable water. Some overlanders here but not crowded.

February 25th, 2017 by vwipfli

very good place to stay overnight and do some trails.

February 25th, 2017 by Overlanddiaries

The place is overtaken by overland so you will probably be among other crowds.

February 10th, 2017 by avanbeijsterveldt

Very windy night....

February 7th, 2017 by avanbeijsterveldt

Windy and busy place, but good enough (especially when hiking the Fitz Roy trail).

January 31st, 2017 by lasti.ch

Parking Lot, several Overlanders are parking/ sleeping here.
Free no charge

January 18th, 2017 by www.bummelmitpummel.de

Nothing special, just a possibility to park with your motorhome overnight. Very bussy, windy and dusty place.

January 17th, 2017 by essesloyon

Good place for treking Fitz Roy

January 14th, 2017 by breakingtrailsblog.com

not much wind protection, very busy in the summer with day hikers

January 12th, 2017 by ralentir.ch

Now the only place in town to overnight with campers / motorhomes. Good enough.

January 12th, 2017 by timo.luft

Stayed for two nights and started hiking to Fitzroy. Used bathrooms of campsites close by. Quiet in the night.

January 5th, 2017 by ramblinglarder.com

Good spot but lots of activity around. We left out van here for a night while hiking with no problems. Seems safe enough, lots of people during the day and lots of campers overnight.

January 4th, 2017 by Une Pause S'Impose

No more to say than previous comments.
Enough for a night at el chalten.
Not so windy that night but a little cold

January 3rd, 2017 by matthesteffi

Good place for hiking the next day

January 1st, 2017 by ohthewindandrain

Nice spot close to town. Unfortunately some overlanders were playing kings of the world here and parking their rigs across three parking spots. This behaviour, along with all the toilet paper behind every bush and rock in the vicinity, not all of overlander origin of course, may lead to this place being closed to camping in the future. Drinking water at trailhead. Lots of happy people walking by, especially mornings and evenings.

December 16th, 2016 by ocean to cross

Windy place, not good for rooftop tents

December 12th, 2016 by biggrasshopper.wordpress.com

Guter Platz zum Überachten, vor allem, wenn man den Trail Richtung Fitz Roy machen will.

May 22nd, 2016 by uyarak.ch

Parking lot for the trail to Laguna Los Tres. Potable water available 50m from the parking where the trails leave. Very quiet in late May, no wind but very cold.

February 25th, 2016 by rpg

officiel place for motorhome
good place but some time very busy with motorhome

February 24th, 2016 by stephen.o.sloan

Perfect for trekking. Left our van here for three nights without issue. 18 overlander rigs counted one morning.

January 31st, 2016 by waldercy

Permite motor home, camper pero no carpas.
Ninguna estructura pero és posible água potable en la canilla frente al oficina controle de ingreso a la Senda Fitz Roy.

January 9th, 2016 by www.practicingforretirement.com

A fine spot for the night. The paid places in town felt expensive for what you get. No facilities. Pretty quiet. Ranger is at the trail head all day.

December 31st, 2015 by gringorick

Good overnight spot, quiet at night even on New Years eve. Lots of other overlanders here.

December 31st, 2015 by kasbah.ch

Drinking water is available at the trail head 50m from the camp. The camp is sporadically controlled by the guardaparques, tents are not allowed (and there is no room for bargaining with the ranger...). Quite a few sites are not level and not really suitable. The parking lot at the at the waterfall trailhead 3km up the gravel road is explicitly not for motor homes.

December 12th, 2015 by ruudaries

The2Dutch. Good place to be for a night and if you like to walk.

December 8th, 2015 by abcole18

As stated. There is water here but you have to fill up and carry to your vehicle. Fairly busy on weekends in December as well as can get really windy. You can tent camp here, there is grassy areas that line the whole parking lot.

November 26th, 2015 by ADopReis

Windy. Lot of ioverlanders. Indeed on other places the park does not want you to camp. Here there is even a sign for motorhomes!

March 8th, 2015 by overlandingfamily.com

Rangers directed us to this free camping spot. We could not get very far up the road to Lago Desierto as the bridges have a 6t weight limit. This is just a parking spot at the beginning of the trail. Quite convenient for town. Windy. No facilities. Free.

August 10th, 2014 by Get out of Town

- free
- no facilities (there might be water available in the summer)
- camping by the visitor center is not allowed anymore, but the ranger said we should go here
- in August pretty calm, only a couple of hikers during the day
- you can get potable water from the tap in front of the visitor center by the entrance to the town
- we took a shower at the nearby hostel Lo de Trivi (white house on the eastern side of Av. San Martin, 1.5 USD for two people)
- Much nicer option is to follow the dirt road 3 kms west - there is another trailhead also marked as camper parking, this one is further from the city and situated in between some trees, there's also a simple toilet available there.