South America · Argentina
Patagonia, Argentina
Hikes / South America / Cerro Huemul Circuit
In March 2025 I hiked the Cerro Huemul Circuit with three friends: about 45 miles in three days, a loop from El Chaltén, Argentina, down to Lago Viedma, over Paso Huemul and Paso del Viento above the Glaciar Viedma, and back past the Glaciar Túnel and Laguna Toro. It's the trip from my film Hiking 45 miles on the Cerro Huemul Trail in Argentina.
Kraig Adams
Effort at this pace: Very hard · about 15 mi (24 km) and 2,691 ft (820 m) of climbing a day over 3 days, up to 4,639 ft (1,414 m). Our grade for the days given, worked out from distance, climbing and altitude a day; it isn't the trail's usual difficulty rating (under Basics) and doesn't rate exposure, terrain or weather.
From Kraig Adams's GPS recording and guide.
From Kraig Adams's GPS
Elevation827–4,639 ft45.6 mi
From Kraig Adams's GPS. Terrain: Mapzen Terrain Tiles (SRTM, GMTED) on AWS · Glaciers, rivers & lakes © OpenStreetMap contributors
Tap a day for his map of it
The film
Hiking 45 miles on the Cerro Huemul Trail in Argentina
Before you go
From Kraig Adams's guide
Park entry ARS 50,000 a day for foreigners, ARS 100,000 for a 3-day…
From Kraig Adams's guide
From Kraig Adams's guide. For planning, not navigation: check before you go.
Their films and versions
1 creator so far: Kraig, 3 days, tent.
Hiking 45 miles on the Cerro Huemul Trail in Argentina
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Typical: 3 days (the hike's facts).
Planning questions about Cerro Huemul Circuit, answered only from this page's facts, the creators' versions and hikers' public tracks, with where each answer comes from. When the data doesn't say, the answer says "not given".
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Answered from the data
I did it in three long days of 15 to 16 miles each. The park plans four days, with camps at Laguna Toro, Paso del Viento and Bahía de los Témpanos. Add a spare day for wind.
From Kraig Adams's trip and guide.
Park entry ARS 50,000 a day for foreigners, ARS 100,000 for a 3-day Flexipass or ARS 175,500 for 7 days (from June 1, 2026), card only. Registration is free. The bus from El Calafate was ARS 60,000 one way, plus a ARS 2,000 terminal fee, in September 2026. Add a harness rental if you don't have one, and mountain rescue insurance.
From Kraig Adams's trip and guide.
Roughly November to March. I walked March 6 to 8, 2025.
From Kraig Adams's trip and guide.
Free and required, online, one form per person (2026), plus a park entry ticket.
From Kraig Adams's trip and guide.
My loop from El Chaltén was 45.6 miles (73.4 km) on my GPS, with about 8,070 ft of climbing, in three days in March 2025. The park plans it as four days and gives about 65 km.
From Kraig Adams's trip and guide.
After a wildfire near the lower Río Túnel crossing in January 2026, the park allowed only Laguna Toro to Paso del Viento and back from January 17, 2026. As of September 2026 I found no announcement that the full loop had reopened. Ask at the park's visitor center in El Chaltén before you go.
From Kraig Adams's trip and guide.
No park rule requires one. The park says mountaineering experience is essential and that you must be self-sufficient. You need a harness and carabiners for the two cable crossings; if nobody in your group has done a Tyrolean traverse, hire a guide or learn it first.
From Kraig Adams's trip and guide.
Yes. Registration with Los Glaciares National Park is free and online, one form per person, every trip. You also need a park entry ticket for the El Chaltén trails (ARS 50,000 a day for foreigners from June 1, 2026), card only.
From Kraig Adams's trip and guide.
The park lists a harness, two locking carabiners and a safety line for each person, and a steel carabiner and 35 m of thin cord for the group. Never clip an aluminum carabiner straight onto the steel cable.
From Kraig Adams's trip and guide.
The park's registration form lists three camps: Laguna Toro, Paso del Viento (by the refugio) and Bahía de los Témpanos / Cabo de Hornos. Camping at Paso Huemul isn't allowed. I camped at Bahía de los Témpanos and in a small clearing east of Paso del Viento.
From Kraig Adams's trip and guide.