Lanín Volcano Hike

Options

When you make your booking, you can choose one of the following trekking routes. Both include pickup from your hotel in San Martín de los Andes and return transfer, as well as an expert mountain trekking guide, accredited by the Lanin National Park.

South face hike (10 hours)

We'll depart from San Martín de los Andes to Puerto Canoa, located on the shores of Lake Huechulafquen. From there, we'll embark on a 10-hour trekking route of medium difficulty to the south face of the Lanín Volcano.

In the first part of the route, we'll cross a forest of coihues and ñires and traverse some minor slopes. We'll continue the route to another beautiful natural space, where we'll listen to the sound of the Ruca Leufú stream, rushing by. At this point, the path begins to slope upwards. We'll continue along the border of the stream towards the southern slope of the Lanín Volcano, of which we'll get a fantastic view at this point!

On the last stretch, the landscape becomes more arid and stony, and we catch a glimpse of the glacier on the south face of the Lanín volcano. Here, we'll take a break to give you a chance to eat the food you have brought with you as you enjoy the views. After regaining our strength, we'll return to the start of the trail to return to San Martín de los Andes.

• Schedule: this route runs on Wednesdays

North face hike (8 hours)

In this trekking route of high difficulty and 8 hours of duration, we'll first go into the area surrounding the Turbio River, an area of the Lanín National Park at 1100 metres (3608 feet) altitude. In addition, we'll cross a lenga forest where we'll see various Patagonian birds - including the giant woodpecker.

We'll continue our climb along the north face of Lanín heading towards a vast clearing, where we'll see the volcano in all its splendour. Our final ascent to the summit will follow the so-called Espina de Pescado (Fishbone), where we'll see some vestiges of the last glaciation. Our hard work won't have gone to waste, as at the end of the path we'll find the BIM 26 mountain refuge, an Argentinean army post located at 2,300 metres (7545 feet) above sea level.

At the refuge, you can have some more of the food you have brought with you while enjoying the views of the Lanín Volcano and Lake Tromen. Finally, we'll return to the base of the volcano and, from there, we'll return by road to San Martín de los Andes.

• Days of operation: this route takes place on Sundays