Parque Nacional Los Arrayanes

According to local folklore, Walt Disney took the idea for the forest in his cartoon feature Bambi from the arrayán forest at the tip of Península Quetrihué, a former estancia that became a national park in 1971. The eye-catching red-barked forests of Myrceugenella apiculata, with their bright-white flowers, do indeed bear a resemblance, but a Disney archivist has pointed out that Walt never visited the area. In fact, Bambi was in production prior to his 1941 trip to Argentina.

So close to La Villa that it feels more like a sprawling city park—though it’s larger than the city itself—the park occupies the entire 1,753 hectares of Península Quetrihué, which stretches south into Lago Nahuel Huapi. Its namesake forest comprises only about 20 hectares, but the rest of the peninsula bristles with trees like the maitén and the southern beeches coihue, lenga, and ñire, colorful shrubs like the notro and chilco, and dense thickets of the bamboo colihue.

The park’s environmental standout may be the arrayán, individuals of which reach 25 meters and 650 years of age, but it’s also an ideal place for hiking and mountain biking—the undulating 12-kilometer trail to or from the tip of the peninsula makes an ideal half-day excursion (on a bicycle or doing one-way by boat) or a full-day by hiking in both directions. Frequently, in Argentina, rangers exaggerate the time needed on certain trails, but the three hours they suggest is about right for this highly pleasurable walk in the woods, which passes a pair of lakes; only at the park entrance, near La Villa, are there any truly steep segments.

At the entrance, rangers collect a US$4.50 admission charge (US$2.25 for Argentine residents). Unfortunately, even those who only intend to make the 20-minute hike to the panoramic Mirador Arrayán must also pay the fee. Near the dock at the southern tip of the peninsula, a confitería with a cozy fireplace serves sandwiches, coffee, and hot chocolate.

Nonhikers can reach the arrayán forest in about half an hour on the Catamarán Futaleufú, run by El Cruce’s Angostura Turismo (Avenida Arrayanes 208, Local 1, tel. 02944/494405); the cost is US$7 one-way, plus a US$1 boarding tax. Cyclists can rent bikes in El Cruce, but note that hikers and bikers must leave the park by 4 p.m. Horses are prohibited, as is camping.