Lake Puelo
Blue from glacial silt.
Lago Puelo National Park in northwest Chubut covers about 277 square kilometres. Once an annex of Los Alerces, it became an independent national park in 1971 to protect its mountain scenery and Valdivian temperate rainforest. Glaciers shaped its mountains and lakes, and the glacial silt the rivers carry gives Lake Puelo its deep blue. On the lakeshore are a jetty, a visitor centre and beaches for cold summer swims, with forest trails to viewpoints and streams and boat trips across the lake towards the Chilean border. The forest is tall and dense, its understorey thick with climbers and ferns. The park fee is paid at the entrance. It is a quarter of an hour's drive from El Bolsón, so it suits half a day or a full day with a boat trip.
Blue from glacial silt.
Ferns and climbers.
Towards Chile.
Northwest Chubut, about 15 km south of El Bolsón
About 15 km, a quarter of an hour by car; the park fee is paid at the entrance.