The northern part of Argentinian Tierra del Fuego is quite tiny in the grand scheme of things and not an obvious destination yet there are several places of interest if you seek them out!
It wasn’t supposed to be there and neither were we. The Desdemona ran aground in 1985; our cruise to South Georgia had been cancelled.
Left in limbo for 2 weeks we were exploring some of the less obvious destinations on the Argentinian side of Tierra del Fuego. Our last minute search for hire cars had not managed to turn up anything that could go into Chile, so we were restricted to a relatively small area.
Having spent quite a bit of time around Ushuaia, we decided to head north on Ruta 3 and see what was out there.
Paso Garibaldi
Leaving Ushuaia behind through a landscape of colourful peat bogs and snow topped mountains, we crossed the Andes mountains via the 450 m Garibaldi Pass. This is the highest point on Ruta 3 and there is a Mirador with a great view to the north over the valley to Lago Escondido and Lago Fagnano.
I decided to walk down the old gravel road which drops steeply in hairpins bends from under the mirador to meet Lago Escondido at a ruined hotel complex. It was a pleasant 3 km trip, following hoofprints and the odd 4WD print; the road is heavily washed out in places but there are good views en route.
The large hotel was derelict and most of its cabanas in ruins, although cyclists had reclaimed one and created a cosy nook, complete with log burner. An old bus quietly rusted away. Simon had walked in from the other direction and we lunched at the old jetty.
Laguna Bombilla
The 2 km walk back to the car followed Lago Escondido, the unspoilt lake nestled deep within the forest with some nice wild camping spots. However, we drove a little further north to Laguna Bombilla which nestles in a very scenic spot on the southern side of Lago Fagnano.
We camped within the trees where a couple of beautiful grey foxes lingered for titbits. There is an old jetty at the head of the lagoon and one can follow a track along Fagnano lake or an elevated path above it for views over it’s 98 km length (72.5 km are in Argentina). On a windy day it can be whipped up into waves like an inland sea.
The lagoon is a popular fishing spot but a new refugio has been built in the forest so this quiet area may be coming to an end.
Just a few kilometres around the corner Lago Marguerita is another quiet spot. The dark lake is hemmed in by trees. There are good camping spots at its northern end and a rough gravel road leads about 3 kilometres to its other end, perfect for gentle walks.
It is actually possible to do a complete circuit of the lake although the far side involves a bit of rock hopping to avoid boggy bits. A grassy track also leaves from the far end of the lake and peters out into a track to Paso Tristian, about 5 km away uphill and with a shelter on the saddle – the path goes on to emerge on the main road near the ski resort.
We didn’t have time to explore this although it looked an interesting option. However it is worth walking into the valley at least a little ways to see what exactly a beaver can achieve when he wants to!
Tolhuin
If you are driving, Tolhuin, 103 km north of Ushuaia, is unavoidable. It has grown a lot since my last visit in 2017, with a line of new cabanas ruining the end of Lake Fagnano and others sprouting nearby.
After burning down, the Panaderia La Union has been rebuilt and still offers a huge array of empanadas and sweet pastries, as well as chocolate. Take a number on arrival and join the throng of people who flock to this popular place. It is a good loo stop too and there is even a free room for cyclists!
Lago Yehuin
20 kilometres north of Tolhuin and 40 westwards, this beautiful lake is in a peaceful spot with just a few distant houses to one end. The drive to it passes estancias and wide open grasslands that are quite attractive.
It has some pretty, grassy camping spots (free) in the trees beside the lake, with far views of snowy mountains.
Nearby there is an abandoned hotel – it actually has some quite cool graffiti inside and the derelict jetties are quite photogenic. It is a great place to chill out and do nothing for a few days!
Cabo San Pablo
The Desdemona, carrying cement for Ushuaia, washed up in 1985 at Cabo San Pablo on the Atlantic coast of Tierra del Fuego.
The scenery had changed dramatically to the north of Tolhuin as we left the mountains behind and entered a transition zone of grassland and islands of trees. The landscape actually resembled that of Kosciusko National Park in Australia.
We turned off Ruta 3 for the cape on a very muddy gravel road following a night of heavy rain. It was a scenic drive with rolling grasslands interspersed with tidy estancias, their brightly painted buildings looking surprisingly spick and span by Argentinian standards.
Large sheep shearing sheds seemed redundant and there weren’t actually many animals to be seen other than horses and guanacos.
As we neared the ocean, the headland became obvious just ahead. There is a parking area where the 2.2 km walk (100 m) leaves to its top, an easy grassy track.
The lighthouse when it comes is strangely askew and has been replaced by a newer model. However, the wooden platform just above it offers great views up and down the coast, including our first glimpse of the famous wreck.
The beaches to each side were lined with fishing nets: pegged out on metal stakes: the nets float vertically when the tide comes in. Their owners race out regularly to check them on ATVs.
We dropped down and drove around to check out the wreck at close quarters. The parking area is next to it and the locals were arriving with chairs for an evening apero sitting on the beach in front of it.
We thought they must have been waiting for low tide but by the time it arrived, the beach was empty and we had found a grassy dandelion bedecked area to camp in below an abandoned hotel.
We kept an eye on the Desdemona at breakfast the following morning and drove down as it reached low tide. This time we could walk around the boat and found a large hole had been cut in her port side, probably so she could be stripped.
Some of her original cargo of 20,000 bags of cement could be glimpsed amongst her bones, but she looked far too precarious to climb inside.
We continued along the road for another 30 km to near its end. There were some nice far reaching views from the hills down to the ocean, but it was all private estancia land and the road was heavily fenced.
Trees lay fallen in great swathes across battle scarred hillsides where the land had been cleared. We were only able to reach the ocean at one point where curious strands of rock led out to sea. The cliffs were made of solidified mud and sand and very crumbly.
Heading back to Ruta 3, we were pleased to find the road had dried out considerably since the previous day. We stopped to fill our water bottles at a spring popular with the locals and headed north, camping in the Cabo Auricosta Reserve.
It was a rather bleak area of windswept rubbish strewn coastline although there were wide ranging views. It is supposed to be a migratory birding area but there were few on our visit.
Rio Grande
Rio Grande was built on sheep; some 15 km out, at Estancia María Behety, there is the world’s largest sheep shearing shed, holding 7000 sheep. The land was purchased in 1899 by José Menéndes, a businessman from Punta Arenas.
In town we drove past the ruined Frigorifico, built by the same family in 1919 for processing sheep meat and by-products. They sold it in 1940 and it was finally closed in 1970. A ruined jetty and railtrack stood opposite; once, it even had a runway for the mail ‘plane.
The main strip along the promenade is known as the Héroes de Malvinas Avenue. Amongst many flags and monuments, there is a large memorial devoted to the Falklands conflict of 1982, plus a couple of aircraft and a troop carrier.
Confiteria Roca, a cafe dating back to the oil boom of the 1960’s and just off the main square, is a good coffee stop. The place is fairly basic and stuffed with old photos, and very popular with the locals.
Rio Grande now claims to be the trout fishing capital of Argentina and a lot of the estancias to the south of town have turned to fly fishing tourism – personally I would go to Alaska! Just to prove the point, we drove out past a giant trout statue and felt we had done enough, it is not the prettiest of places.
The Salesian Mission lies about 12 km north of Río Grande and is easily spotted in its smart red and white livery. Founded in 1893, it’s church dates back to 1899 and there is also a taxidermy museum of native animals.
Reserva Costa Atlántica de Tierra del Fuego – Cabo Domingo.
About 16 km north of Rio Grande, these 100 m high sandy cliffs provide an excellent viewpoint over the Atlantic coast.
We parked at a haphazard shrine area just off Ruta 3 and headed up the steep path. At the top there are far reaching views up and down the coast, as well as a basic lighthouse dating back to 1933.
Reserva Costa Atlántica de Tierra del Fuego – Punta Páramo
Punta Páramo is about two hours north of Rio Grande where a long spit curls into the Bahia San Sebastian. A good gravel road branches off just before the border, passing through coastal scrub where there were lots of guanacos and the odd fox, until we turned eastwards for the Atlantic coast at an old police station.
There were also a lot of oil derricks but other than one person checking his oil well we were totally alone. A grey sand and pebble beach lay ahead of us and later we walked north under some sandy cliffs to escape the wind, seeing many of the little black and white Commerson’s dolphins and soaring albatrosses.
The place has a rather curious history as a one time adventurer called Julio Popper once mined for gold on the spit, creating his own gold coinage (now highly collectable), stamps and a mini army before being murdered in 1893.
It ended up being a rather magical spot and would be lovely up on the headlands on a good day. At night the oil wells shone with a bright light on top, but we were totally alone.
However, by then we felt we had rather exhausted the delights of the north and were happy to head back over the mountains to Ushuaia where a rather good coffee and cake shop awaited!
