Las Vueltas River Black and White

El Chaltén is a small mountain village in Santa Cruz Province, Argentina. It is located on the riverside of Rio de las Vueltas, within the Los Glaciares National Park near the base of Cerro Torre and Cerro Fitz Roy spires, both popular for climbing. It is also a popular base for hiking numerous trails, such as those to the base of surrounding peaks and glacial lakes, such as Laguna Torre and Laguna de los Tres.

For those reasons, El Chaltén was named Argentina's Trekking Capital. Today the sole reason for its existence is tourism. The town is located at the edge of the 12,363 km2 (4,773 sq mi) Southern Patagonian Ice Field and about 350 inhabitants live there throughout all the seasons of the year. Snow and ice mostly fence the town, and the homes are low structured with roads mostly made of rocks and dirt.