Hiking Lake Esmeralda in the Tierra del Fuego

Nature
The wow factor for nature - does it show nature at its best? Doesn't need to be the wildebeest migration or diving with hundreds of hammerheads. Rather make you pause as you realise just how awesome the natural world can be
9
Culture
How much does this experience showcase some of the better and finer things that us humans can offer? Sure, it can be ancient ruins and renaissance churches, but it can also be festivals or soaking up some of the great modern cities of the world
0
Fun factor/activity
Very simple - was it fun? This is usually linked in with doing some kind of activity - i mean, walking along some cliffs is nice, but paragliding from them, now that is fun. Its a vastly underrated factor in a truly great experience
7
Avoid the crowds
Big tour groups and being surrounded by loud fellow tourists can sap the life out of even the greatest of travel experiences. This score is to reflect just how much you can avoid this. But. . . The score also takes into account if the crowds actually add to the experience, such as with a party town or a bustling local market
9
World famous
How world famous is the experience?
1
unique
How hard is it to have a similar experience in other places round the world?
6
Overall TE Score
The overall travel experiences score:  fun factor + avoid the crowds + (best of nature or culture) + (best of world famous or unique). Then convert into a score out of 100
77 *What the scores mean and where do they come from
RANKING
How this travel experience ranks compared to all the other experiences on this site, based on the travel experience (te) score
71st/454
Top 20%
continent
South America
country
Argentina
Length of time
1 day or less
Typical daily price
This gives you a rough idea of the daily price based on 2 people travelling where they can split costs like accommodation. It excludes travel there and back, and factors in inflation the numbers in brackets show the price range for the full time of the experience (so not necessarily daily). It is a range to reflect different budget vs higher end
$30 (typically $10 - $40)
Time of year visited
January
Primary Tags
Click on any of the tags to see all travel experiences with the same tag
Forests Glacial lakes Hiking
All Tags
Mountains
Wow Factor
The wow factor reflects just how much you’re likely to say “wow”. As there’s a lot of experiences in the world, and a lot of wows, i’ve gone with a simple ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ to ⭐️ score, and a separate category for the truly "gash"
⭐⭐⭐

Summary

At the southernmost tip of the Americas, the Tierra del Fuego is as strange as it is alluring.  Mountains and volcanoes surround you as you arrive in Ushuaia, the southern most city on earth, and you find yourself in the centre of a big playground of glacial lakes, channels and echoes of the past culture of the original Fuegian natives.

Make sure if you’re in this part of the world to take a day to hike up to see the bright blues of the glacial lake Esmeralda – stunning surroundings and easy to access from Ushuaia.

 

The colours of Lake Esmerelda, Tierra del Fuego, Argentina

 

Highlights

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#1 - Seeing the otherworldly blue colours of the glacial Lake Esmeralda

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#2 - Hiking the 4 hour round trip hike to the lake and seeing the thunderous mountains surrounding you

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#3 - Criss-crossing over the various streams on your way up to the glacial lake

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#4 - Spotting some of the wildlife, including the giant Magellanic Woodpecker up in the trees

Travel Tips

For Lake Esmeralda, its simple to get a taxi from Ushuaia to the starting point of the hike – basically the Parking Laguna Esmeralda on google maps and the taxi driver will know.  But you’ll also want to ask if the driver fancies picking you up at the end of the hike as it could be a bit isolating waiting for a taxi / a ride from the Lake back to Ushuaia.

Takes around 4 hours for the 10km / 20,000 steps hike.  Not overly difficult, but obviously keep an eye on the weather.

As with all things in the Tierra del Fuego, make sure you bring waterproofs and some decent waterproof hiking boots.  The peat bogs towards the start mean you’ll likely get sodden feet without them

Make sure to check out some of the other things to do and general tips by checking out the Trip to the end of the earth, 4 days in the Tierra del Fuego entry.

 

Experiences nearby

The below map shows experiences nearby with a colour that reflect the Overall Score of those experiences

Score Detail

The scores above are the real point of this site.

Over 20+ years and 100+ countries, I’ve tried to rank the world’s best travel experiences — from genuinely mind-blowing ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ to the properly gash.

Every one of the 500+ places on this site has both a Wow Factor rating and a more analytical Travel Experience (TE) score based on the things that actually make travel memorable.

If you're curious about the thinking behind it, head to the About page.

Otherwise, explore the map above or on the Home page and see which places truly deliver maximum wow.

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