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Is This Real Life? Patagonia’s Most Incredible Hanging Glacier

06/06/2016 by Kristin Addis 6 Comments

Queulat isn’t home to Patagonia’s most famous glacier, it does not command the visitor numbers that many of its more Southern counterparts do (thank God), and it’s not the biggest nor the bluest – not by a long shot.

None of that matters, though, because it looks like this:

queulat national park
This photo, by the way, got reposted by BBC, Travel + Leisure, and like, everyone else too on Instagram

I’m still not over it. I will probably never get over it. This hanging glacier was awe-inspiring.

Now if you’ve followed along so far on my Carretera Austral journey, you might imagine that this isn’t something you can just hop in a tourist bus and access. Nothing there is that simple.

You can, however, hitchhike your way there, from the nearby town of Puyuhuapi, so that’s what I did.

queulat national park
This is the view from Puyuhuapi, which is also quite nice, indeed

Back in Bariloche, my first stop in Patagonia, the Italian couple who I shared the car rental with told me about this place, and told me where to find a park ranger who could take me on his way to work. I went to the hostel they told me to find him at, asked nicely, and the next day, was in the car on the way to see this amazing glacier.

If you don’t have a car or a method for getting there, you can find a ride pretty easily by hitchhiking on the side of the road (it’s how I got back to town after, too).

queulat national park
Near the start of the park (By Steve)

The walk up would normally be an easy one, through a fairly dense forest of vines and and leaves the size of a slightly chubby toddler.

It’s not that long, and not too steep, either. But both Steve and I felt like it was taking us forever. Why? My feet kept getting stuck.

Don’t be fooled by the fairy glade-esque look of it, because this trail was muddy AF.

queulat national park
It gets muddy. Trust.

I learned in Patagonia that you can make one of two choices regarding the mud: Wear waterproof hiking boots so that you can trudge through the mud and water like a champion, or try in vain to jump from rock to rock on the trail and ugly cry when you miss and a foot goes thigh-deep into a puddle.

Make the right choice. Go for some sturdy shoes. This has been a PSA.

Oh and here’s another tip: Go early in the morning. Queulat national park doesn’t receive the tourists that the parks in the South do, but it still gets a lot by local standards and the viewing platform is small and the trails narrow.

You can camp in the park overnight if you wish, and if you’re heading south on the Carretera Austral anyways, this might not be a bad call. That way you can just continue south from there and you’re sure to see the glacier in the early AM before many visitors arrive.

When Steve and I were there, it was just us at first, going up the path and finally arriving at the viewpoint for the hanging glacier. It far, far exceeded my expectations.

Nothing I saw on Google images had done this place justice. It was mostly just phone photos that were poor quality, so seeing how magnificent Queulat actually was was quite the surprise, actually.

queulat national park
The lake accessed by another hike under the viewpoint

Once the viewpoint got crowded (mostly with Chileans on package tours), Steve and I headed down to the lake for another view and lunch (Side note: I am so glad that avocado is such a big part of Chilean cuisine. I basically had an avocado sandwich that day with a bit of Turkey), while a few people rented kayaks and took boat tours out to the moraine of the glacier. I didn’t because I had seen it from above already, and it was glorious.

Queulat might not be Patagonia’s biggest, bluest, or the most famous glacier, but it was my favorite by far.

Do it yourself:

Get in: Hitchhike or drive. Minivans sometimes go back and forth offering paid rides for 2,500 CLP. It’s also possible to walk, but it’s 22km each way from Puyuhuapi to Queulat National Park.

Costs: Park entrance for foreigners is 4,000 CLP (about $6).

Sleep: Either camp at the national park or rent a room in town for around 28,000 CLP for a nice private room

READ NEXT: The Perfect Patagonia Itinerary

Visit the hanging glacier in Queulat National Park in Chilean Patagonia. Here are all the insider tips, how to get there, and how to get it to yourself!
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About Kristin Addis

Kristin Addis is the founder and CEO of Be My Travel Muse, a resource for female travelers all around the world since 2012. She's traveled solo to over 65 countries and has brought over 150 women on her all-female adventure tours from Botswana to the Alaskan tundra.

« Hitchhiking Adventures in the Back of a 10-Wheeler Truck
The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Carretera Austral »

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I'm Kristin, and my vision of a better world is one where more women are empowered and living out their dreams. Solo traveling is the best method I've found to become the best, bravest version of me. This site is all about how YOU can have the adventure of a lifetime in an easy, fun, approachable way, so that you can feel empowered, too. Want to learn more about me?

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Comments

  1. Neha says

    06/06/2016 at 8:17 am

    I really appreciate your more frequent posts. I just love reading about your adventures.

    Reply
  2. Stephen Garone says

    06/06/2016 at 10:24 am

    Wow! That’s really beautiful. Thanks for sharing.

    Reply
  3. Danny says

    06/07/2016 at 2:15 pm

    Whoa, that glacier looks amazing – especially when viewed from across the lake!

    Reply
  4. Cory says

    07/11/2016 at 5:32 am

    I really want to visit Patagonia. It’s on my adventure bucket list 😛

    Reply
  5. Trinity says

    11/08/2018 at 10:33 am

    Thank you for this post. The first picture looks awesome, and it really makes me want to visit this glacier. Is this the view that we can expect from one of the viewpoints? or was that taken with a good zoom lens? Thanks

    Reply
    • Kristin says

      11/09/2018 at 3:18 am

      That was taken with a zoom lens but you’ll get a lovely view of the hanging glacier from the end of the trail. It’s totally worth going!

      Reply

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