PARQUE NACIONAL TIERRA DEL FUEGO

For pilgrims to the uttermost part of the earth, Parque Nacional Tierra del Fuego, where RN 3 ends at Bahía Lapataia, on the north shore of the Beagle Channel, is mecca. Despite its size, over 63,000 hectares, only relatively small parts of its mountainous interior, with its lakes, rivers, glaciers, and summits, are open to public access. Most visitors see only the area in and around the highway.

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Geography and Climate
About 18 kilometers west of Ushuaia, Parque Nacional Tierra del Fuego hugs the Chilean border as its 63,000-hectare stretch from the shores of the Beagle Channel north across Lago Fagnano (Kami). Elevations range from sea level on the channel to 1,450 meters on the summit of Monte Vinciguerra.

Most of the park has a maritime climate, with frequent high winds. While rainfall is moderate at about 750 millimeters per annum, humidity is fairly high, as relatively low temperatures also inhibit evapotranspiration—the summer average is only about 10°C. The record maximum temperature is 31°C, while the record minimum is a fairly mild -12°C. At sea level, snow rarely sticks for any length of time, but at higher elevations there are permanent snowfields and glaciers.

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Flora and Fauna
As in southernmost Chile, thick southern beech forests cover the Argentine sector of Tierra del Fuego. Along the coast, the deciduous lenga (Nothofagus pumilio) and the Magellanic evergreen coigue (Nothofagus betuloides) are the main tree species, while the stunted, deciduous ñire (Nothofagus antarctica) forms nearly pure stands at higher elevations. In some low-lying areas, where cool annual temperatures do not permit complete decomposition, dead plant material compresses into Sphagnum peat bogs with a cover of ferns and other moisture-loving plants; the insectivorous Drosera uniflora swallows unsuspecting bugs.

Until recently Argentina’s only protected coastal area, Parque Nacional Tierra del Fuego has a seashore protected by thick beds of kelp that serve as incubators for fish fry. Especially around Bahía Ensenada and Bahía Lapataia, the shoreline and inshore waters swarm with cormorants, grebes, gulls, kelp geese, oystercatchers, flightless and flying steamer ducks, snowy sheathbills, and terns. The maritime black-browed albatross skims the channel waters, while the Andean condor sometimes soars overhead. Marine mammals, mostly sea lions but also fur seals and elephant seals, cavort in the ocean. The rare southern sea otter (Lutra felina) may exist here.

Inland parts of the park are fauna-poor, though foxes and guanacos are present in small numbers. The most conspicuous mammals are the European rabbit (Oryctolagus cunniculus) and the Canadian beaver (Castor canadiensis), both of which were introduced for their pelts but have proved to be pests.

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Sights and Activities
Within the park boundaries, but also within walking distance of Ushuaia, the Glaciar Martial is the area’s best single hike, offering expansive views of the Beagle Channel and across to the jagged peaks of Chile’s Isla Navarino. Reached not by RN 3 but rather by the zigzag Camino al Glaciar (also known as Luis Martial) that climbs northwest out of Ushuaia, the trailhead begins at the Aerosilla del Glaciar, the ski area’s chairlift, that operates 10 a.m.–4:30 p.m. daily except Monday. The 1.2-kilometer chairlift, which charges US$2.50 pp, reduces the two-hour climb to the foot of the glacier by half; in summer are frequent buses to the lift (US$2.50–3 round-trip) with Pasarela, Eben Ezer, and Bellavista from the corner of Avenida Maipú and 25 de Mayo, between 9 a.m.–9 p.m. Though the straightforward trail itself is steep, especially the middle segment and the descent require particular caution because of loose rocks and soil. There is no admission charge to this sector of the park.

Where freshwater Lago Roca drains into the sea at Bahía Lapataia, the main sector of the park has several short nature trails and a handful of longer ones; most of the backcountry is off-limits to casual hikers. Slightly less than one kilometer long, the Senda Laguna Negra uses a boardwalk to negotiate boggy terrain, studded with ferns, wildflowers, and other water-tolerant species. The 400-meter Senda de los Castores (Beaver Trail) winds among southern beeches gnawed to death to form dams and ponds where the beavers themselves occasionally peek out of their dens.

From Lago Roca, the five-kilometer Senda Hito XXIV follows the lake’s northeastern shore to a small obelisk that marks the Chilean border. If someday Argentine and Chilean authorities can get it together, this would be an ideal entry point to the wild backcountry of Estancia Yendegaia, but at present it’s illegal to continue beyond the marker. From a junction about one kilometer up the Hito XXIV trail, Senda Cerro Guanaco climbs four kilometers northeast up the Arroyo Guanaco to the 970-meter summit of its namesake peak.

From Bahía Ensenada, near the southeastern edge of the park, there are boat excursions to Isla Redonda (US$14 pp) from 10 a.m.–5:30 p.m.

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Information
At the park entrance on RN 3, the APN has a Centro de Información where it collects an US$4.50 pp entry fee.

Several books have useful information on Parque Nacional Tierra del Fuego, including William Leitch’s South America’s National Parks (Seattle: The Mountaineers, 1990), which is now out of print; the fith edition of Tim Burford’s Backpacking in Chile & Argentina (Bradt Publications, 2001); and the third edition of Clem Lindenmayer’s Trekking in the Patagonian Andes (Lonely Planet, 2003). The latter two are hiking guides.

Bird-watchers may want to acquire Claudio Venegas Canelo’s Aves de Patagonia y Tierra del Fuego Chileno-Argentina, Ricardo Clark’s Aves de Tierra del Fuego y Cabo de Hornos (Buenos Aires: Literature of Latin America, 1986), or Enrique Couve’s and Claudio Vidal Ojeda’s bilingual Birds of the Beagle Channel (Punta Arenas: Fantástico Sur Birding & Nature, 2000).

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Getting There and Around
For details on transportation to and from the park, see Getting Around under Ushuaia.