Los Glacieres National Park

On the southwestern Argentine side, there are more than 300 glaciers, some of them in the Parque Nacional Los Glaciares, Glacier National Park, extends for 217 miles (350 km) along the Andes. Los Glaciares is a UNESCO World Heritage site, and includes ice fields covering about 40% of the surface, two lakes and 47 major glaciers. Thirteen glaciers reach toward the Atlantic, while the glaciers Perito Moreno, Mayo, Spegazzini, Upsala, Agassiz, Onelli, Ameghino feed the lakes in the park. Among them is Lago Argentino, the largest lake in Argentina, and already 15,000 years old.

History of the Perito Moreno Glacier

Looking west at Glacier (Perito) Moreno from Cerro Buenos Aires

Perito Moreno is named for Francisco Pascasio Moreno, whose nickname was Perito. More formally known as Dr. Francisco P. Moreno, Honoris Causa, (1852-1919), he was the first Argentine to travel the area and his Reminiscencias Del Perito Moreno were later compiled by his son. Moreno gave the Argentine nation the land that became Nahuel Napi National Park. Many places in southwestern Argentina are named for him. It was he who named Cerro Fitzroy after the captain of HMS Beagle.

Advice: when visiting the glacier, you can see gigantic pieces of ice break away with a thunderous crack and plunge into the water (a process called “calving”). It’s awesome, don’t miss it.

Ice break away at The Perito Moreno Glacier

Get a trip to Argentine Patagonia, starting in Ushuaia, and enjoy the fantastic view of the south seas as well as its unique Fagnano and Escondido Lakes, its lengas forest, and the End of the World Prison. If you want to, you can also ride the End of the World Train. Enjoy it!