Laguna Torre is a 14-mile hike in Los Glaciares National Park in Argentinian Patagonia. Although not as popular as Laguna de los Tres, it is worth adding this to your hiking agenda. The route is scenic, taking you through forests and beside rivers, all under the watch of the snow-capped mountains all around.
What’s the terrain like on the Laguna Torre hike?
I would say Laguna Torre is an ideal hike. Compared to Laguna de los Tres, although the hike to Laguna Torre is of a similar length, the terrain is much less challenging as the slopes are less steep and the path is better-defined than Laguna de los Tres.
According to my AllTrails account, the total elevation gain on the Laguna Torre hike is about 2,300 feet (about 700 metres), which includes an extra section when you reach the lake (see more below). However, although this sounds like a lot, this gain is achieved incrementally, with lots of short stints uphill rather than any longer stretch.
Laguna Torre
Laguna Torre itself is an interesting sight. All of a sudden, the path emerges at a colourless lake strewn with huge chunks of ice. The larger chunks, floating on the lake’s surface, are blue with cold and moulded into curious, smooth shapes. Smaller chunks of transparent ice litter the pebbly beach. Far from being serene and still, the lake is alive with a current of water flowing vigorously into it, although the mini-icebergs remain motionless.
Extra section to Mirador Maestri
Go right when you reach the lake and walk two kilometres further round its perimeter. You’ll reach Mirador Maestri which is a viewpoint for Glaciar Torre. Streaked with mud, the glacier curves down a shallow slope, bunching into a series of ice peaks frozen at the lake’s edge. It’s an unusual sight and well worth the extra four kilometres.
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