Hike to Mirador Piedras Blancas: Easy Trail, Beautiful Glacier. Patagonia, Argentina

The Mirador del Glaciar Piedras Blancas is a spectacular lookout you can reach with an easy hike from Rio Eléctrico in Los Glaciares National Park. From there, you can enjoy the view of the Piedras Blancas Glacier, the homonymous Laguna, as well as Fitz Roy’s peak.

View of the Piedras Blancas Glacier from the Mirador.

The hike is relatively easy, a total of  11.4 km/7.1 miles, with a rather modest total elevation gain of 300m, or 984 ft. It can be done as an out-and-back hike from the Rio Eléctrico trailhead.

Overall, it’s a great hike if you are looking for easier options compared to longer trails in the area. Or also a great option if you are looking for a “recovery” hike after having hiked other longer or harder trails. That is also what I did.

Alternatively, it’s a viewpoint you’ll pass by if you plan your Laguna de Los Tres hike as a point-to-point hike from Rio Eléctrico back to El Chaltén.

Table of Contents

Overview of the Hike Mirador del Glaciar Piedras Blancas & Map

The trail is well marked too, and presents no particular challenges. But, beware of falling branches! And, like all the hikes in Los Glaciares National Park, you’ll need to purchase a pass.

There are two main ways to get there. The most popular way is to get the Rio Eléctrico trailhead and continue from there. This is also what I did. This is also the other trailhead for the Laguna de Los Tres hike, so you can combine both in one hike if you are doing it during the day.

There’s also a third way, which is starting the hike from Hostería El Pilar. But it is private property, so from what I understand, this is only a viable option if you are staying at Hostería El Pilar or one of the other lodges in that area.

Here is the map of the hike. You can download the GPX file for free from the activity linked below, if you wish to have it. I did use it too, but the trail is easy enough to follow.

How to get to the Mirador Piedras Blancas Trailhead and Parking

To get to the trailhead, you would either need to drive to the Río Eléctrico parking area or take a transfer from El Chaltén. The drive, on paper, looks short and easy. In reality, it’s a slow, bumpy drive on a very rough dirt road. It takes a good 40 minutes or so on a regular 2WD passenger car to cover the 16km/10 miles separating El Chaltén from the Río Eléctrico area.

It’s doable in any regular passenger car; I did it in a Volkswagen T-Cross. However, you really need to take it easy, mostly to avoid the biggest rocks, potholes, and to avoid a flat tire.

• Driving Directions: From El Chaltén, you would need to drive north on road 41, toward Río Eléctrico. The drive is about 160km or about 10 miles, but it takes almost an hour to get there with a regular 2WD car.
• Parking: free parking ais available by the Río Eléctrico bridge.
  
• Public Transport: While there are no public transport to the trailhead, there are several privately owned transfer companies in El Chaltén that service the Río Eléctrico area

The Mirador Piedras Blancas Hiking Trail

From the parking area, take the trail on the side of the river, next to the bridge. Keep following it until reaching the Park’s entrance booth, where you’ll need to purchase your ticket (again, cash only at the time of writing) or show your pre-purchased one.

Trailhead of the Mirador Piedras Blancas Hike.

For the first few kilometers, the trail follows an alluvial plain. It’s fully marked and easy to follow.

From there, the trail continues to follow the alluvial plain between bushes, rocks, and Lenga trees. It’s an easy walk on flat ground here, but you already have pretty good views of the surrounding landscape.

At one point, you’ll need to cross the river on the suspension bridge. Once on the other side of the river, the trail gains a little elevation and enters the forest. This is where the trail joins the other trail coming from Hostería El Pilar.

The landscape surrounding the trail already offers beautiful views of the forests and glaciers.

The trail follows an alluvial plain, through bushes and small threes, for the first few Kilometers.

As you cross the river on a small pedestrian suspension bridge, the trail will enter the forest for the final section.

Not long after, you’ll see the official Park entrance. From here it’s a walk in a beautiful forest. It’s also one of the trails where I have seen the most wildlife in all my hikes in Los Glaciares National Park.

First, I came across a large colony of Magellanic Woodpeckers. I counted at least 3 males and four females. And, second and best of all, a young male Huemul quietly grazing in the woods.

Huemules are quite a rare sight. There is an estimated population of about 1,500 left in the wild between Chile and Argentina. I kept myself at a good distance, trying not to make any sound to not disturb it. And while the Huemul seemed to have noticed my presence, he also appeared to be rather unconcerned by it.

After the first section, the trail enters a beautiful forest.

Male Magellanic Woodpecker.

Young male Huemul grazing l in the shadow of the forest.

But back to the trail: the stretch in the forest is also a relatively easy walk, with a little elevation gain involved. And the elevation gain is entirely split and spread through short up and downhill sections, rather than being all concentrated in a single steep climb.

Here and there, the views open up to the glacier too, and the Fitz Roy peak in the background. A good anticipation of what awaits further ahead at the Miirador.

From time to time, it’s possible to view Mount Fitz Roy and the glacier through a clearing in the forest.

The Piedras Blancas Viewpoint

At some point, you will “stumble” upon the Mirador. “Stumble” because at first it looks like an unceremonious clearing in the woods, but then, all of a sudden, to your right. There it is!

The rather epic view of the hanging glacier right in front of you, with the colorful Laguna Piedras Blancas below it, all framed by the branches and leaves of the trees at the Mirador.

The Actual Mirador Piedras Blancas.

View of the Piedras Blancas Glacier from the Mirador.

It’s a rather wide area, and it’s fairly easy to find a place to sit and enjoy the views. If you can, I’d recommend staying there for a bit, to try and catch smaller or bigger calving episodes.

I spent almost an hour there, but no luck seeing one. Not that it really bothered me with such beautiful views right in front of me.

Mirador Piedras Blancas Photos and Photography Tips

First off, the main viewpoint, the Mirador Piedras Blancas. To be fair, it’s pretty easy to photograph. After all, it’s a view through a clearing in the forest. So can only play around with branches and leave so much, trying to find different compositions. Basically, what you see is what you get, in terms of photos and compositions.

In terms of light, the Glacier the east. So it is best to visit it from mid-morning to mid-afternoon to catch some direct light on the glacier, assuming the sun is out. Or a moody/dramatic scene if it’s cloudy with some breaks in the clouds.

In terms of lenses, I brought two with me: a 24-70mm and a 100-400mm. Nothing wider than the glacier is quite far and would look rather small compared to the vegetation around the viewpoint.

The 24-70 was more than enough to cover the whole trail and the Mirador. With the longer telephoto lens, however, you can overcome the limitations of the narrow views at the Mirador. The glacier, its seracs, perched on the rocks, and the laguna.

And, of course, the wildlife I came across in the area. Even though I am no wildlife photographer, and use the 100-400 mainly for landscapes, it is handy to have it on such occasions. And it is also part of the reasons why I got one, after having missed one on several wildlife encounters.

Especially in a place like Patagonia, it’s handy to have one.

Female Magellanic Woodpecker.

Huemul.

Where to stay

In such a remote location like this coroner of Argentinian Patagonia, the choice of location is limited. Pretty much either El Chaltén or the accommodations around the Rio Eléctrico, Like Hostaria El Pilar.

And, of course, you have the various campsites within the park. In this case, the closest would be Campamento Poincenot, which is a great option if you are planning to hike to Laguna de Los Tres for Sunrise the day after.

Additional Resources

• Since you’re here, you may want to check out my Laguna de Los Tres Sunrise hike guide too – perhaps the most iconic hike in El Chaltén.