The lake
Rowing and fishing.
DagosNavy — CC BY 3.0 · Gonce — CC BY-SA 4.0 · Lmalena — CC BY-SA 4.0 · DagosNavy — CC BY 3.0 · Lmalena — CC BY-SA 4.0
Laguna de los Padres is a countryside lake about 12 kilometres from central Mar del Plata, since 2011 a municipal nature reserve of 687 hectares, nearly half of it water. Its name, «Fathers' Lake», comes from a Jesuit mission founded nearby in the eighteenth century; before that it was called «Big Lake», then «Lake of the Kids», after the pampas deer that people mistook for young goats. Woods, reed beds and green hills surround the lake, a haven for birds, and townspeople come at weekends to walk, row, fish and picnic. Inside the reserve is the José Hernández rural museum, where the author of «Martín Fierro», the famous epic of gaucho life, once lived. Entry to the reserve is free, a quiet half-day away from the beach.
Rowing and fishing.
Gaucho life.
In the reeds.
National Route 226, km 12.5, about 12 km from central Mar del Plata
About 12 km from the centre on National Route 226; entry is free.