Mirador de los Hielos Hike, The Iceberg Beach, Patagonia, Chile

The short hike to Mirador Isla de los Hielos makes for an easy and scenic stroll on the shores of Lago Grey. Literally meaning the “Lookout of the Ices,” it’s the most accessible place to see Icebergs in Torres del Paine.

Small Icebergs in Lago Grey, next to Mirador de los Hielos.

While this is a short hike, at about 5,32 km (3.3 miles), it packs a lot in terms of how scenic it is and in terms of landscape photography. It’s a beautiful beach, with a view of the vast Lago Grey and the Paine massif, as well as the glacier of Southern Patagonia’s icefields in the distance.

And of course, Icebergs, which are as much fun to see as they are to photograph.

The beach is also so big that you almost feel as if you’re on the ocean, or on a beach on some distant fjord, surrounded by the mountains. Yet it’s a lakeshore, and you do feel the size of the elements around you. 

Such is the sense of scale in the Patagonian landscape. Vast, and quite humbling.

Hikers walking toward Mirador de los Hielos.

Table of Contents

Overview of the Mirador de los Hielos Hike & Map

This is an easy hike, that takes about an hour and a half to complete. And, with minimal elevation gain involved, it does not require a particular effort either. So you can potentially combine it with a hike to Mirador Ferrier. That’s a more demanding hike, but both starts at the Rio Pingo area. I combined them too. Mirador Ferrier first, then Mirador de los Hielos.

Also, the Hotel Grey boat ride to the Grey glacier leaves from the shores of the Lago Grey beach. So this is also a viewpoint you can easily visit if you are planning to take the boat to the glacier.

Finally, like all the hikes within the Torres del Paine National Park. Tickets can be purchases on the official website paseparques.cl.

Here is the map of the hike. You can download the GPX file for free from the activity linked below.

How to get to the Mirador de los Hielos Trailhead and Parking

The trailhead is next to the Guarderia Grey and the Rio Pingo restaurant/shop. It’s basically at the end of road Y-150 on the Western side of the park. It’s a drive on a rough, bumpy gravel road that is doable in any passenger car, but take it slowly.

• Driving Directions: If you are staying within the park, you’ll have to drive to the end of Road Y-150 to the East, toward Lago Grey. From Puerto Natales, you can take Road 9 and Road Y-150 to enter the Park via the Laguna Sarmiento Station. Alternatively, you can take Road Y-290 shortly after passing the Puerto Natales Airport. Then you will enter the park through the Serrano Ranger Station, to rejoin Road Y-150 from there. Both roads take about the same time. However, Road Y-290 is rougher and slower going. Most importantly, both are equally scenic.
• Parking: There’s a large parking area at the end of Road Y-150, next to the Rio Pingo Restaurant.
• Public Transport: If you are located within the park, there are some bus transfers or shuttles you can take to go from one of the Park entrances to Lago/Hotel Grey. From Puerto Natales, there aren’t any real direct services from Puerto Natales directly to the Trailhead. However, there are private bust transfers (like Bus Sur) between Puerto Natales and Hotel Lago Grey. You can view an overview of the transfer options here on the official Torres del Paine Website.

The trailhead is just across the Rio Pingo Restaurant/Visitors center.

The Mirador de los Hielos Hiking Trail

From the Rio Pingo visitor center, a wide path leads into the forest, and on a bridge leads across Rio Pingo. After a short 5-minute walk through the forest, you’ll gain the first view of the beach. It’s hard to gauge the real size of the beach from there. It’s easy to think it’s a short walk across the beach.

However, t’s really not that short, as it’s about 1.3km (or 0.8 miles) to cross the entire beach.

Crossing Lago Grey’s beach is a 1.3km (or 0.8 miles) walk

On the shores of Lago Grey, it’s easy to forget it’s just a lake.

It is slow walking as there are a lot of pebbles and you don’t have much traction on it. As you reach the shore, you first get a good view of the vast Lago Grey. The lake is about 15 to 19 kilometers (9 to 12 miles) long, ans it is easy to forget it’s just a lake.

As you cross the shore, you might already see a few small icebergs floating next to the Isla de los Hielos. They are chunks of ice that came from the Grey glacier, almost 20 km north of the beach.

From this corner of the beach you can now walk to the Isla de los Hielos. From there it’s a short walk to the Mirador. it takes less than 10 minutes to cover the 500 meters from the access point to the main lookout.

The Mirador is a relatively wide area, with an observation deck and a couple of benches to sit on and enjoy the views of the Icebergs, and the seemingly endless Lago Grey.

You can walk all around the small islac de los Hielos

Icebergs, viewed from Mirador de os Helios. Can you see the small boat?

It’s also possible to walk around the whole Isla de los Hielos instead of turning back if you want.

I turned back because of very strong winds and rain, and turning back was the shortest way to get back to a sheltered area. It should be worth it to walk around the whole island de los Hielos to see more of the small Icebergs.

Mirador Isla de los Hielos Photos and Photography Tips

The Mirador de los Hielos is a fun place to photograph at, with plenty of opportunities for such a short hike.

The first view of the beach is a good spot to use a zoom lens to try and get some sense of scale across the beach. More likely than not, there will be other people around, so you can “use” other people to try and render the size of the place.

Something like the photo below, but with a longer telephoto lens, you should also be able to get some better compression with the landscape – or icebergs if there are any – in the distance. I took this with a 24-70mm, but you can get the idea.

The Mirador de los Hielos is also a great option for sunset. That, of course, assuming the sun is out. However, It’s always worth a try in the ever-changing Patagonian weather. Even with cloud cover the clouds can briefly open up with strong winds.

That was also my plan. I was hoping for a short evening clearing in the clouds, but i had no luck.

At one point it did look as if it was going to happen, but then the weather took another turn for the worse. However, I’m still quite happy with the darker and moodier tomes, as they make a nice contrast with the color of the ice.

Also bring a tripod and perhaps an ND filter. I had both with me, and while I used the tripod, it was so dark, gloomy, that I was able to get some blurred effects just with the polarizer.

On that, it was a struggle to keep the filter dry. If it’s windy, definitely bring a microfiber cloth to wipe the filter or front element dry from time to time. Also, there are plenty of places around the Mirador where you can use trees or branches to find some more “creative” compositions.

Where to Stay

Hotel Lago Grey is the closest possible accommodation, but it’s a bit on the pricier side. And I think it makes sense to stay there if you are planning to take the boat to the Mirador Glacier Grey the day after, or do some other activities in the area, like hiking to Mirador Ferrier.

Otherwise, the area around Río Serrano, farther south, is not too far and is usually the most affordable area within the Park. And, it’s still much closer compared to Puerto Natales.

Additional Resources

• Here is the official Torres del Paine Website.
• For a closer look at Glacier Grey, check out the Mirador Glacier Grey hike.
• Discover more scenic hikes in scenic locations!