Black Glaciers

Even if you have seen other glaciers (like Upsala or Perito Moreno in El Calafate), the black glaciers at Mt Tronador will take your breath away. Not exactly beautiful, but striking and so different from anything else.

The trip to get there can be done on your own or via a guided tour, but I would recommend on your own.

Budget a full day even though it is only a 170km round trip as about 100km of that is off-road, but easily handled by a normal rental car.

The drive takes you past a number of beautiful lakes and through forest and steppes landscapes, across rivers and there are a number of view points which are well worth stopping for. The majority of the drive is along the banks of Lake Mascardi which is known as the 7 coloured lake as it changes colour depending on your viewpoint, the season, weather etc. It is beautiful.

The glacier itself is difficult to explain. Sort of like coco pops in a bowl of milk. It really does give you the wow factor when you see it though.

There are also a number of hikes in the vicinity, with a nice walk up to a waterfall from the base camp a couple of km past the glacier viewpoint.

There is a restaurant (as well as small hotel) at Pampa Linda, about 10km from the glacier itself, which looks pretty nice although we did not eat there.

Note that the road back only opens at 4pm so there is no use rushing to get finished before then.

Entrance charge is AR$12 (about £2) per person for access to the national park.

I would recommend this as something you must see while in Bariloche.