La Leona Petrified Forest
Step off the main tourist trail on this full-day excursion to the La Leona Petrified Forest, a remote fossil site tucked into the open Patagonian steppe, with a private guide throughout. Scattered across a wind-sheltered hollow at the foot of Cerro Los Hornos lie petrified logs dating back some 70 million years — a rare glimpse of a Patagonia that looked nothing like it does today, ideal for travelers seeking an authentic, off-the-beaten-path day from El Calafate or El Chaltén.
At a Glance | |
Duration | Full day (~8 hrs, 09:00–16:30 hs) |
Departs From | El Calafate or El Chaltén — same schedule either way |
Walking Time | ~2.5 hrs (round trip, discontinuous) |
Difficulty | Moderate |
The excursion can begin in El Calafate or in El Chaltén, with the same departure and return schedule to your hotel either way. From El Calafate, the route follows Provincial Route 5 and then National Route 40 north, along the shores of Lago Argentino, the Santa Cruz and La Leona rivers and their valley, with the Andes — including Cerro Fitz Roy — visible on the horizon. Midway, there's a stop of about 15 minutes at the historic Hotel La Leona before continuing west along the southern shore of Lago Viedma to Estancia Santa Teresita, at the base of Cerro Los Hornos.
Arriving at around 12:00, you descend into a natural hollow sheltered from the Patagonian wind by Cerro Los Hornos, where petrified logs — some up to 1.20 m (about 4 ft) in diameter and dating back roughly 70 million years, to the Late Cretaceous — lie scattered across the ground, a rare record of a Patagonia whose climate once supported large, abundant flora. Dinosaur fossils occasionally surface here too: in 2001, paleontologists discovered the remains of Puertasaurus reuili at this very site, one of the largest sauropods ever found, estimated at around 40 meters (130 ft) long and 100 tons. Your guide leads the walk among the fossils — about 2.5 hours of discontinuous walking over irregular terrain — with a stop to enjoy lunch about halfway through.
The return begins at 14:00, with a second stop at the Parador Hotel La Leona, arriving back at your hotel in El Calafate — or in El Chaltén, if that's where you started — at around 16:30, completing a full day off the beaten path in one of Patagonia's most unexpected landscapes.
