The Huemul Circuit is an approx. 65 km long circular route through the Los Glaciares National Park near El Chaltén in Argentina. It usually takes 4 days to complete the whole route. There are strict requirements from the park rangers for this trek. In addition to sufficient mountain experience, a harness and carabiner are required to cross a river hanging from a rope in two places. You also have to walk on a glacier and cross a pass. The tour should therefore not be underestimated and is probably not suitable for everyone. It is not for nothing that the tour is not mentioned by the park rangers unless you explicitly ask. Those who do decide to hike this trail will be rewarded with fantastic views of the southern Patagonian ice field and can hike for a while in the no man’s land between Argentina and Chile.
Overview
- Name: Huemul Circuit
- Country: Argentina (near El Chaltén)
- Length: ca. 65 km
- Difficulty: medium to heavy
- Stages: 4
- Season: November to March
Route
The Huemul Circuit starts at the ranger station in El Chaltén and continues from there to the back of Los Glaciares National Park. The trail leads over an often very windy pass and with the help of two zip lines, it crosses raging rivers.
Video
Here you can find my short video about the Huemul Circuit:
Planning (Important!)
There are two rivers to cross on the Huemul Circuit which, depending on the time of year, can be very fast and make fording impossible. This is why there are rope slides at these two points. To use these, you need to take a harness and two carabiners (1 steel, 1 aluminum) with you. You can hire both in one of the many outdoor stores in El Chaltén for a small fee. You can then comfortably pull yourself across the river with the rope.
No permit or anything else is required for this trail. According to the rangers, you only have to sign in with them and then sign out again. If you are not back 2 days after the actual return, they will set off to look for you.
As there is no network coverage on the trail and you are sometimes very remote, it is a good idea to take a satellite phone with you, especially if you are traveling alone. If you don’t have one, you can borrow one from the park ranger station.
You should also check the weather conditions carefully before setting off. It can get very windy in El Chaltén, which sometimes makes it impossible to walk the trail. I had to wait two days for the weather to improve before I could start the trail. Supposedly this is not that rare, so you should allow enough time.
Tip: Just go to the park ranger station before you start and ask about the trail there. Even if it is not advertised anywhere, the park rangers are very helpful and friendly. They give good tips and can also provide information about the weather.
Food
As the route leads through the national park and there are no places to eat there, we have to carry food with us for the 4 days. I stocked up on simple food from the supermarket in El Chaltén. You can do without expensive trekking food for the 4 days and instead fall back on rice, couscous, noodles etc. There is more than enough water on the way.
There is more than enough water on the way and it can be refilled again and again. There is always water at the official camp sites.
Even if the food wasn’t always particularly good, it tasted especially good at the sight of the huge blocks of ice floating in the water right in front of my tent.
Reports
You can find more detailed experience reports in my blog post about the Huemul Circuit.
Galery
Here are some pictures of my hike on the Huemul Circuit:
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