Patagonia is a vast region of 1.060.631 km2, with incredible landscapes, different from north to south. We can consider the Bariloche and the Lakes District as the north portion of Patagonia (at least for tourism, because Patagonia strarts in La Pampa Province), and Ushuaia in Tierra del Fuego the south limit. The entire area is full of wonderful lakes, a product of glacial melting.
Lakes in Patagonia: origins
About a million years ago, a great glacial period began, where most of Patagonia was covered with vast masses of ice. These, with incredible erosive power, eroded the hard rocky soil, excavating deep valleys. At the end of the last ice age (14,000 years), the ice retreated, the rivers modified their courses and these enormous depressions gradually filled with water, giving rise to most of the Patagonian lakes. These are generally deep lakes, with a profile of the basin, in the shape of a “U” or “V”, very little productive (oligotrophic) and a visibility from the surface, which ranges between 6 meters. and 15 meters, even reaching 25 meters. The water is extremely clean, almost distilled and of very little salinity and hardness. This is due to the fact that the vast majority come from rain or thaw and the soil in the adjacent areas and in the basins, being made of hard rock with very little solubility, contributes very little salts and ions.
The low temperatures, the low amount of nutrients, the abrupt profile of the valleys and the action of the winds, prevent the establishment of aquatic vegetation, which, if it exists, is limited to the brief sector belonging to the coast.
We have two types of lakes, the Lakes of the Atlantic Basin and the LAkes of the Pacific Basin
Lakes in Pagatonia: Lakes of the Pacific Basin
These are small and medium-sized lakes, productive, easy to navigate, with a large number of bays and abundant aquatic vegetation on their banks, which are populated by a large number of trout. Although the ideal is to have a boat, some of them, such as Lake Roca or Lake Guillelmo, are suitable for practicing from the coast. In them the axiom is fulfilled that, “the more remote and inaccessible the areas are, the more abundant the fishing is”. It follows that Lake Guillelmo, Mascardi and Lake Los Moscos are generally less profitable, while Fonck, Roca and Steffen are more recommendable. These are ideal areas for fishing with personal floats (Belly Boat).
Lakes in Patagonia: Lakes of the Atlantic Basin
The Nahel Huapi is a large lake, not very productive, that although it does not present a great abundance of medium-sized fish, it offers interesting possibilities of collecting fish of more than 4 kg, which is not common in the rest of the environments . The sector corresponding to the province of Río Negro is almost totally urbanized, with the consequences that can be imagined. It is an ideal environment for spinning and trolling. The remaining lakes, Perito Moreno and Gutierrez, are not exceptional fishing but offer interesting possibilities, especially if we have a boat.
Lakes in Southern Patagonia
The Southern Patagonia offer different lakes, some of them enormous.
Lakes in Patagonia
Buenos Aires Lake / General Carreras Lake
Buenos Aires Lake, called General Carrera Lake or also Chelenko Lake, is a lake located in Patagonia and shared by Chile and Argentina. Each side of the border has different names, both internationally recognized: In Argentina it is called Buenos Aires Lake, and in Chile it is known as General Carrera Lake
It is also known by the autochthonous name of Chelenko, which in Aonikenk would mean “stormy waters”
The Buenos Aires or General Carreras Lake has a total area of 1850 sqkm, of which 978.12 km² are in the Chilean region of Aysén, and the remaining 880 km² belong to the Argentine province of Santa Cruz, which makes it the largest lake in Chilean territory.
The best known tourist attraction is the “Marble Cathedral”, an islet within the lake made up of rocks in white and ivory tones. It is also frequented by sports fishing enthusiasts, because of its abundance of trout and other salmonids. It´s part of the Carretera Austral a beautiful route in the chilean Patagonia.
Lakes in Patagonia
Pueyrredon Lake / Cochrane Lake
Lake Cochrane or Pueyrredón is located in Patagonia and is shared by Argentina and Chile. In Argentina it is known as Lake Pueyrredón, while in Chile it is called Lake Cochrane, both of which are internationally correct names.
The lake has a total area of 320 km², of which 175 km² are in the Chilean commune of Cochrane in the Aysén Region of General Carlos Ibáñez del Campo, and the remaining 145 km² belong to the Argentine province of Santa Cruz.
Lakes in Patagonia
Posadas Lake
Lake Posadas is an Argentine lake located in the north of the Santa Cruz province, in the Río Chico department. It is located north of the Perito Moreno National Park, 73 km from Bajo Caracoles and 330 km from Gobernador Gregores. In the Northwest of the province of Santa Cruz, 100 km south of Los Antiguos, and very close to the town of Hipólito Yrigoyen, also known as Lago Posadas. Just 75 km from the RN 40 (detour in Bajo Caracoles, Provincial Route RP 1209).
Lake Posadas, just 7 km from the town of Hipólito Yrigoyen (Santa Cruz), is green and 40 km long. In the middle of its waters there is a rock formation to which erosion gave the shape of a tunnel and which is known locally as “El Arco”.
It is attached to the Pueyrredón lake, blue in color; 98 km long. Between the two mirrors runs an isthmus 200 meters wide, which is interrupted by a small stream called La Angostura, which is the one that effectively joins the two lakes.
In Argentina, the river that unites them is the El Paso river, the tributaries of this great water basin are the Tarde river that is born in the El Águila plateau and carries its waters to the Posadas lake, and the Furioso river that is born at the foot of the Andes mountain range and takes its waters to the same lake.
As for the Pueyrredón lake, it counts as tributaries: the Paso river, and the Oro river that is born at the foot of the San Lorenzo hill, 3,706 meters above sea level; and then it goes through the gorge of the same name, which is 40 m long and dumps its waters into Lake Pueyrredón. As for the Oro River, it is considered one of the most important in the province due to its flow and its natural beauties, such as the Garganta with the same name.
The El Águila plateau marks an important geographical accident and from this there are excellent panoramic views. The Cerro del Indio is important as well as the Serrillada with its innumerable variety of rocks of disparate colors and capricious formations. Other geographical features are the Blanco River, a tributary of the Salitroso, Sierra Colorada, Cerro Negro and further away are the Columns lakes.
Lakes in Patagonia
General Belgrano Lake
Lake General Belgrano is a patagonian lake located in the Río Chico department, Santa Cruz province, within the Perito Moreno National Park, in Argentine Patagonia. Rock art has been found near the lake.
Lakes in Patagonia
O´Higgins Lake / San Martin Lake
Lake O’Higgins / San Martín is located in Patagonia and is shared by Chile and Argentina. The lake is known in each country by the name of the respective liberators: in Argentina it is known as Lake San Martín in honor of José de San Martín, while in Chile it is called Lake O’Higgins in honor of Bernardo O’Higgins. Its original name in the Tehuelche language would be Charre, according to some documentary makers.
It is located at an altitude of 255 m in the Patagonian Andes and has an area of 1013 km², of which 554 km² are in the Chilean Aysén Region of General Carlos Ibáñez del Campo and the remaining 459 km² belong to the Argentine province of Santa Cruz .
The lake, with more than eight branches, is one of the most irregular and largest in Patagonia, being fed by the melting of glaciers of the Southern Patagonian Ice Field and some rivers such as the Mayer River that, coming from Argentina, empties in the lake in the surroundings of Villa O’Higgins. The lake drains into the Pacific Ocean through the Pascua River, in the Calén fjord, near the Gulf of Penas.
An investigation carried out in 2003 by experts revealed that the lake has a maximum depth of 836 meters, in the O’Higgins Glacier arm, which makes it the deepest in America and the fifth in the world.
Lakes in Patagonia
Viedma Lake
Lake Viedma, approximately 80 km long, and an average width of 15 km in the extreme southwest of Argentina; It is the longest of the Argentine lakes formed by glacial abrasion. The extension of its water surface is 1088 km².
This lake is basically fed by the Viedma glacier, located in the extreme west, such a glacier is 5 km wide and descends from the Patagonian continental ice, culminating in the lake.1 The lake has its inflow in the La Leona river that carries its flows to the extreme west of Lake Argentino.
At the mouth of Lake Viedma with the aforementioned La Leona river are the Parador La Leona and the small town of Lago Viedma, almost immediately to the Parador La Leona, that is: at the headwaters of the La Leona river at the southeast end of this lake is They find the relics of the aike or aonikenk parador called Orr Aiken, at the end east of the lake are the Estancia La Silesia, and the Hotel Punta del Lago, on the north coast the estancias Punta del Lago, Santa Margarita, San José (very close to El Chaltén that it is located almost at the foot of the Andes mountain range), while the Santa Teresita and Helsingfors ranches are located on the south coast.
Perito Moreno Glacier
Lakes in Patagonia
Argentino Lake
Lake Argentino is the largest of the great Patagonian lakes in Argentina; and the southernmost of its continental territory, behind the Fuegian Lake Fagnano in the insular part. Lake Argentino is located in the southwestern sector of the province of Santa Cruz.
The lake is at an altitude of 178 meters above sea level and has a surface area of 1415 km², a total volume of 219 hm³ and an average depth of 150 m, reaching at some points 500 m, which places it among the 20 deepest lakes in the world and the third deepest in America after Lake O’Higgins / San Martín and Lake General Carrera / Buenos Aires, both located in Patagonia and shared between Argentina and Chile.
It has a main body and two long and irregular western arms, which are located within the Los Glaciares National Park; Several glaciers drain into them, among which the Perito Moreno and the Upsala glacier stand out. On the southern shore of the lake is the city of El Calafate, the most common tourist base for exploring the region. At the eastern end of the lake, more precisely at the mouth of the Santa Cruz River, at the end of the 19th century there was an aike or aonikenk stop called Carr Aiken.
Tours to visit Patagonia
We have many, because Patagonia area is a must-see when you visit Argentina and Chile. One of my favorite tours is the Visiting Patagonia, a great itinerary from Buenos Aires and including Peninsula Valdes, Ushuaia and of course El Calafate and glaciers in Los Glaciares National Park.
Another great tours to visit the glaciers in Patagonia are:
We have a complete list of tours including Patagonia. Take a look to our complete list of tours to visit Argentina and Chile and enjoy the incredible region of Patagonia!
