Tierra del Fuego National Park – Best hikes and Things to Do

Tierra del Fuego National Park is a protected area situated in the southernmost tip of Argentina. The national park covers about 63,000 hectares of natural beauty! Mountainous terrain, diverse wildlife, and precious ecosystems, including sub-Antarctic forests, bogs, rivers, and lakes.

Tierra del Fuego is a paradise for hikers and nature loversxand should be included on everyone’s Patagonia backpacking itinerary. While wandering around the park you may encounter beavers, guanacos, foxes, and a variety of bird species.

We have prepared a practical guide for your visit to Tierra del Fuego National Park. What are the best places, hikes, and activities? Let’s have a look!

Quick Facts about Tierra del Fuego National Park

  • Tierra del Fuego National Park is located about 8 km west of Ushuaia.
  • There are regular shuttle buses from Ushuaia town.
  • There is no mobile reception anywhere in the park (the only exception is the top of the Cerro Guanaco).
  • Camping in the park is allowed.
Tierra del Fuego National Park - Best hikes and Things to Do

Entrance fee to Tierra del Fuego

There is an entrance fee to the Tierra Fuego National Park – you can check the up-to-date prices at the National Park website. It was about $15 in the blue exchange rate (in 2023).

Tierra del Fuego National Park - Best hikes and Things to Do

How to get to Tierra del Fuego by bus from Ushuaia

Getting to Tierra del Fuego by bus from Ushuaia is quite easy. Head to the city center to find a shuttle terminal at the bus terminal at Avenida Maipu and Juana Genoveva Fadul Sur. There are several companies going to the Tierra del Fuego National Park. You can purchase a ticket in a small hut/stall. Buses leave every one to two hours.

The shuttle bus is going to stop at the park entrance so that you can buy the ticket to the national park. There are several bus stops in the park, where you can hop off or hop on back to the bus.

Another option is to take a taxi.

There are also many tour companies providing tours and transport to the park:

Fin del Mundo Train ride

If you are a fan of narrow-gauge steam railways, you shouldn’t miss the Fin del Mundo Train – the Train at the end of the world. It’s a lovely historical train with a very nice train station, where you can learn about the history of the railway and later on head off for a ride into the park.

The railway itself won’t help you in terms of getting deeper in the park – it is there more for the experience itself. The start and the end of the railway are only 3 kilometers apart. You can check and book your ticket and check up-to-date prices on the official “Tren del fin del mundo” website.

If you decide to skip the ride we recommend at least stopping at the train station to see the platforms and the steam locomotive from a little viewing tower. There is a nice view of the whole stain station and platforms.

The train was used to transport prisoners from the city to the mine construction materials back in 1910-1947. It travels 7 kilometers through the Pipo River valley. On the way, you can see lenga trees, La Macarena waterfall, or the remains of the old bridge.

Tierra del Fuego National Park - Best hikes and Things to Do

Places to visit in Tierra Fuego National Park

1) Puerto Guarani and the Post at the End of the World

Probably the most popular and most visited place is the tiny post office in Puerto Guarani. The place has spectacular views of the Beagle Channel and surrounding mountains.

The post office is a small building standing on a wooden dock over the water. It’s a small souvenir shop at the same time. There are plenty of stickers, magnets, and postcards you can choose from. You can also get an “End of the World“ souvenir stamp in your passport for about $3.

Puerto Guarani is also the place where you can start your Coastal trail from. There is also a picnic area, dry toilets, and a campsite.

Tierra del Fuego National Park - Best hikes and Things to Do

2) Alakush Visitor Center

At Alakush Visitor center you can visit the Ethnic exhibition of the aboriginal cultures of Tierra del Fuego. There is also an exhibition of the natural and cultural history of the region, including displays of fauna, flora, and geology of the area. You will find there also a restaurant and souvenir shop. The building mostly serves as a rest area for park visitors.

The Alakush visitor center is a base for Cerro Guanaco and Hito XXIV hikes.

Tierra del Fuego National Park - Best hikes and Things to Do

3) Lapataia

Bahia Lapataia is the place where you can find the famous sign of The end of road no. 3. But it’s not just the end of the road, from there you can explore several shorter trails around the bays of Beagle Channel. If you are lucky, you can see there some wild horses wandering around.

Hit the boardwalk and walk to Puerto Arias viewpoint/dock or head to the other side of the Mirador Lapatia.

Tierra del Fuego National Park - Best hikes and Things to Do

4) Laguna Verde

Not far from Bahia Lapatia, you can find the Laguna Verde campsite. This is a favorite place of fishermen and other campers. The campsite has a gorgeous location, there is a little peninsula that is a perfect place to build a tent for a night. There are several short tracks nearby, for example, “Paseo de la Isla” which takes about 30 minutes.

Laguna Verde is a bus stop no. 4.

Tierra del Fuego National Park - Best hikes and Things to Do

5) Rio Pipo

Rio Pipo is a nice area by the riverside, where you can find a campsite as well as the trailhead to Cascada Rio Pipo (it’s a short hike, about 930 meters to the cascade). The railway track passes near this area, so once you are there, you can wait for the train and snap some photos of it.

Tierra del Fuego National Park - Best hikes and Things to Do

Best hikes in Tierra del Fuego National Park

All the hikes in the national park are very well-marked. You can also take a map of all the trails at the entrance to the park or at the visitor center in Ushuaia.

If you should pick just one or two trails in Tierra del Fuego, choose the Cerro Guanaco and the Costera trail, as they have the best views.

1) Cerro Guanaco

  • Time: 5 – 7 hours
  • Distance: 12 km / 7 miles there and back
  • Elevation gain: 938 meters / 3077 feet
  • Difficulty: hard
  • Route: GPX of the Cerro Guanaco trail

Hiking to the top of Guanaco mountain is probably the best way to experience Tierra del Fuego National Park. We think that the hike is probably the most beautiful one in Ushuaia. The trail isn’t the easiest one because you need to climb about 1 kilometer of altitude, but the effort is totally worth it. Once you stand on the top, you will be rewarded with a 360-degree view of the mountains, lakes, Ushuaia, and the Beagle channel.

You can read more details about the trek in this Cerro Guanaco hiking guide.

Cerro Guanaco - best day hike in Ushuaia

2) Costera Trail – Coast trail

  • Time: 3 – 4 hours
  • Distance: 8 km / 5 miles (from point A to B)
  • Elevation gain: 208 m
  • Difficulty: Easy to Moderate
  • Route: GPX of the Costera trail

Sendo Costera is another amazing trail in Tierra del Fuego National Park. The trail follows the coast of the Beagle channel providing stunning views of the mountains on the other side of the Beagle Channel. The trail starts at the Post Office and leads all the way to Alakush Visitor center bus stop.

There are many nice “beaches” on the way, which are ideal spots for a picnic. If you feel like hiking a longer track, you can continue by the short trails that will lead you to the end of road no. 3 (Ruta No 3), from where you can take a shuttle bus on the way back.

Tierra del Fuego National Park - Best hikes and Things to Do

3) Hito XXIV

  • Time: 2 – 3 hours
  • Distance: 7 km / 4.5 miles (out-and-back)
  • Elevation gain: 90 m / 295 feet
  • Difficulty: Easy to Moderate
  • Route: GPX of the Hito XXIV trail

Hito 24 is an easy-to-moderate trail that copies the coastline of Roca (or Acigami) Lake. Hito means a milestone in Spanish, and it refers to a milestone at the border between Argentina and Chile. The trail is surrounded by Patagonian forest and runs along the shore of the lake until it reaches Hito XXIV (Milestone 24). The trail starts at the same parking lot as the Cerro Guanaco trail.

Tierra del Fuego National Park - Best hikes and Things to Do

4) Pampa Alta trail

  • Time: about 2 hours
  • Distance: 5 km / 3.1 miles (from point A to B)
  • Elevation gain: +188, – 293 m (if started from the Rio Pipo area)
  • Difficulty: Moderate
  • Route: GPX of the Pampa Alta trail

The Pampa trail begins in the Pipo River area and crosses a dense forest that leads to Pampa Alta. There are views of the Beagle Channel on the way.

Tierra del Fuego National Park - Best hikes and Things to Do

5) 2-day Hike to Laguna Caminante and Lago Superior

  • Time: 2 days (about 10 – 12 hours of hiking) 
  • Distance: 25 km / 15.5 miles (from point A to B)
  • Elevation gain: +1142 m, -1225 m / +3747, -4019 feet (if started from Valle de Androa)
  • Difficulty: Moderate – Difficult
  • Route: GPX of the Laguna Caminante trail

Although the trailhead and its end are outside the national park, most of the trail leads through the park. If you are a hiking enthusiast and have 2 spare days, we can highly recommend this trail. It might be possible to do it all in one day, but that would be tiring and you wouldn’t have a chance to camp by the amazing Laguna Caminante.

We have spent a lot of time just admiring Lago Superior and Laguna Caminante. It is such a beautiful place, where you meet just a few other hikers. Not only the lakes, but the mountains are very impressive. Going up through the pass and later through the huge mountain valley is such a nice experience (there are many waterfalls, especially after the rain).

Tierra del Fuego National Park - Best hikes and Things to Do

Short hikes in Tierra del Fuego

There are also several short hikes reaching from several hundred meters up to about one kilometer. We can recommend:

  • Cascada Rio Pipo (River Pipo Waterfall)
  • Paseo de la Isla
  • Mirador Lapataia

You can see these small trails on the map here.

Tierra del Fuego National Park - Best hikes and Things to Do

Camping in Tierra del Fuego

Once you pay the entry fee to the National Park, you are allowed to stay at any of the park campsites for 48 hours. There are basically 3 options:

  • Laguna Verde – this was our favorite one, where we stayed both nights. It’s a big campground for many vehicles, and there is also a beautiful peninsula with a lot of spaces for tents. It’s a nice calm campground with short trails in close proximity. There are regularly maintained dry toilets with running water for handwashing.
  • Puerto Guarani – this is a campground directly by the famous small post office. This place is very busy during the day. The parking spot is not in a flat area, so it can be challenging to park your vehicle accurately for sleeping. There are dry toilets and picnic tables. The view of the Beagle Channel is stunning.
  • Rio Pipo – a nice calm campground in the valley by the river. There is the trailhead to Cascada Rio Pipo and it’s also near the train track. There are also dry toilets.

I recommend checking the latest comments about campsites in the iOverlander app.

Another option is to camp out of the park (near the park entrance) by the “End of the World” Train station, where the municipal camping is. There are nice toilets at the train station, the only problem is that they close the station for the night. 

Tierra del Fuego National Park - Best hikes and Things to Do

Weather in Ushuaia in the upcoming days

The weather is really unpredictable due to strong winds. It might change suddenly from a completely sunny day to a snowstorm. So be prepared for everything.

You can check the weather for upcoming days here:

USHUAIA WEATHER

Map of hikes and best places in Tierra del Fuego National Park

We have prepared for you a detailed map of all the interesting things to do and best hikes in Tierra del Fuego National Park. You can export the map and upload it to Maps.me or Locus mobile apps.

Tierra del Fuego National Park - Best hikes and Things to Do

Where to stay in Ushuaia?

Accommodation

Accommodation in Ushuaia is pretty expensive. If you want to save money, you can go camping for free. Otherwise, choose these:

Budget: Casa de Familia – the cheapest good option. Very nice and clean accommodation. The disadvantage is that it’s not directly in the city center. It’s 20 minute walk or 10 minutes by bus.

Midrange: Rosa de Los Vientos: close to the city center and all the popular museums

Luxury: Cilene del Faro Suites & Spa – there is no better feeling than having a spa after a long hike or cruise. It’s also directly in the city center.

Camping

There are 2 free municipal campings.

  • Municipal camping at Valle de Andorra

This is a nice campsite by the river Arroyo Grande with quite a lot of space for camping. There are nice dry toilets and water from the river is potable. This campsite is closer to the city center and bus stops.

  • Municipal camping by the “Fin del Mundo” train station

The other campsite is a big flat area by the river Río Pipo. It is right in front of the “Fin del Mundo” Train station, and I would recommend staying there in case you plan to visit Tierra del Fuego, National Park. The only problem is that the toilets are in the train station, which is closed during the night. There are also dry toilets, but it seems that nobody is taking care of them.

More tips for your travels:

We have prepared for you this comprehensive list of links, discounts, and resources for travel planning in one place. Bookmark this page and whenever you plan a vacation in the future, just open it and save yourself a lot of time.

1) Where to book accommodation?

2) How to find cheap flights?

3) How to rent a car?

  • We recommend a comparison portal RentalCars.com to compare the best offers of all available rental companies.

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How to get to Tierra del Fuego by bus from Ushuaia

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