|
One of Argentina's most popular holiday destinations, the lake district of central and northwestern Patagonia is famous for the great network of easily accessible national parks that spreads itself along the cordillera. This is a land of immense glacial lakes, thick forests, jagged peaks and extinct volcanoes, which was controlled, until a little over a century ago, by the Mapuche. The lake district comprises the southwest of Neuquen, western Rio Negro, and the northwestern corner of Chubut. Shaped like a fish's tail and bigger than Portugal, Neuquen Province is Patagonia's most northwesterly region: its eastern half is a level plain, while the west is dominated by the Andes and parallel mountain ranges; and whereas the mountains in the north of the province are harsh and dry, in the south they are covered in dense Andean forest. The eastern and central region look much like any chunk of inland Patagonia, but here the huge expanses of parched steppe and meseta hide deposits of fossils and fossil fuels. The area is very important in paleontological terms - every few years, it seems, the bones of ever more gigantic dinosaurs are discovered. You can check out this legacy in the museum at El Chocon or in the museums of Neuquen , the province's namesake capital. Centred on Chos Malal , the little-visited north of the province is a zone of transition, much more akin in scenery to Mendoza and the Cuyo than to the rest of Patagonia. At this latitude, the mountains are harsh and barren, typified by the spiky Cordillera del Viento around the mining region of Andacollo and the hump-backed Volcan Domuyo . The great Patagonian Andean forests that are so magnificently represented in Parque Nacional Lanin in the south of the province are little in evidence, although the most northerly vestiges of the Patagonian Nothofagus forests can be found here at the beautiful Lagunas de Epulafquen . South of Andacollo, at the mountain resort village of Caviahue , you find the first significant groves of araucaria , or monkey puzzle tree, growing on the harsh basalt soils of Volcan Copahue. Flanking sparklingly clear waterfalls, these groves are much more impressive than the over-hyped thermal springs of Caviahue's sister resort, Copahue . Further south, against the cordillera, are the most majestic of the araucaria forests. From Paso Pino Hachado down into the north of Parque Nacional Lanin you have some phenomenal opportunities to trek, ride horses or mountain-bike past the trees that the indigenous Pehuenches considered to be sacred beings, daughters of the moon. Check out the Pehuenia circuit around Lagos Alumine, Moquehue, and Norquinco, or access Quillen or the Aigo Mapuche community of Rucachoroi , in the northern sector of Parque Nacional Lanin is a wild area, popular with fishermen but otherwise much less disturbed than the rest of the vast park system in the Patagonian Lake District. Access this zone via Junin de los Andes or the uninteresting steppe town of Zapala. Both Junin de los Andes and the scenic resort of San Martin de los Andes provide good bases for exploring the better-known central and southern sectors of Parque Lanin. Junin is more convenient of the two for investigating the area around the park's remarkable centrepiece, extinct Volcan Lanin , a fairytale snowcapped cone of 3776m. A mecca for aspiring climbers as well as their more experienced counterparts, the easiest route - physically challenging but technically fairly straightforward - is from the northeast: head with your gear for one of the Andes' most scenic passes, Paso Mamuil Malal near Lago Tromen . The classic views of the volcano are to be had from the Lago Huechulafquen and Lago Paimun area to the south, however. The region's volcanic activity can be witnessed at the hot springs not too far south: the Termas de Epulafquen ; and the ones near Lago Queni , at the western end of San Martin's wonderful Lago Lacar . San Martin is at the northern end of the scenic Seven Lakes Route , a gorgeous drive past forested mountain lakes to Villa La Angostura, from where you visit the Parque Nacional Los Arrayanes , formed to protect a captivating wood of myrtle trees at the end of the Peninsula Quetrihue. This tiny park is surrounded by a goliath: Parque Nacional Nahuel Huapi , which is perhaps the most famous, and one of the most visited, of all Argentina's national parks. It is very popular with Argentine holidaymakers, who pack out towns such as the archetypal Patagonian holiday resort, Rio Negro's Bariloche , every year both in summer and for skiing in winter. They come to experience the Alpine flavour of this "Switzerland of Argentina" - a comparison that does, in a few places at least, bear out, although neither the scale of the park nor the urban planning nearby is remotely Swiss. The park has a well-developed infrastructure of trails and refuges for trekkers , who will love the Cerro Catedral region just to the south of Bariloche. Another base for trekking is El Bolson , an alternative hangout to Bariloche in more than one sense of the word, with a hippy tradition that sets it completely apart from its brasher big-town neighbour. Further south, in the province of Chubut, the major holiday destination is the Esquel region. From here, you can visit another classic Patagonian park, Parque Nacional Los Alerces , which has some exceptional lakes and is the best place to see threatened,  © 2003 by Rough Guides Ltd. as trustee for its Authors. Published by Rough Guides. All rights reserved. Rough Guides name is a trademark of Rough Guides Ltd. Buy the book here!
|
majestic alerce trees, some of which are thousands of years old. To the north of the park is Cholila, where you'll find the famous cabin built by Butch Cassidy , while to the south is the engaging Trevelin , which still preserves something of its Welsh roots. The last highlight of the area is one of Argentina's two timeless trains: La Trochita , which rattles and hoots its way through the steppe between Esquel and El Maiten on a precarious narrow-gauge track.
Your Tips For Neuquen and the Patagonian lake district
North Parque Nationale LaninJames says "Has anyone done the walk from lago quillen to lago norquinco?"
|
