Los Alerces National Park

UNESCO World Heritage Site (Los Alerces National Park, 2017); National Park Created 1937 To Protect Forests Of Alerce, Among The Longest Lived Trees On Earth · Esquel, Chubut

Los Alerces protects a chain of deep glacial lakes and temperate rainforest in the Andes of western Chubut, and above all the alerce, a Patagonian cypress that can live for thousands of years. The oldest trees here are estimated at more than two and a half thousand years old, which puts them among the longest-lived trees on earth, and they are the reason UNESCO listed the park in 2017. Most visitors reach them the classic way: a boat across Lago Futalaufquen and Lago Menendez to a trail through the Alerzal Milenario, the millennial alerce forest, ending at a giant known as El Abuelo. Beyond that the park is lakes in shades of green and blue, the suspension bridge over the Rio Arrayanes, forest trails, beaches, campsites and some of the best fly fishing in Patagonia. It is far quieter than Nahuel Huapi to the north. The gateway town is Esquel, home of the narrow-gauge steam train La Trochita, and the Welsh settlement of Trevelin is close by. Summer fires have burned parts of the park in recent years, so check what is open.

Ruta Provincial 71, Villa Futalaufquen, Chubut, Esquel, Chubut, U9200, Argentina

The park is open all year; the visitor centre at Villa Futalaufquen keeps daytime hours. The boat excursion to the ancient alerce forest runs mostly in the summer season and depends on weather and lake levels. Fire bans and trail closures apply in dry periods.

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