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One of our most epic and memorable experiences in Patagonia was trekking on a glacier.
There are many glaciers around the region where you can do a tour like this, but we decided to save ourselves for one that was a little less popular and quite a bit cheaper: Glaciar Exploradores.
Part of the Northern Patagonia Icefield, this icy beauty is protected as part of the Parque Nacional Laguna San Rafael.
Located just off the Carretera Austral near the small town of Puerto Rio Tranquilo, this is one of the most remote areas of Chilean Patagonia. Glaciar Exploradores is out of the way and hard to get to, aka our dream tourist attraction.
To trek on the ice, you’ll need to join a tour from Puerto Rio Tranquilo, with a qualified guide and the necessary gear. Donning the crampons and stepping onto ice for the first time in our lives was a truly special experience. Especially being Aussies who rarely ever see snow, let alone ice!
If you’re hoping to have a glacier trekking experience in Patagonia, I can highly recommend Glaciar Exploradores as an alternative to the popular (and expensive) Perito Moreno Glacier. In this post, I’ll share what you can expect on a Glaciar Exploradores tour, and key info about who to book with, costs and how to get there.
About Glaciar Exploradores
The Exploradores Glacier (Glaciar Exploradores) is a glacier located inside the Parque Nacional Laguna San Rafael in Chilean Patagonia.
The glacier forms part of the Northern Patagonia Icefield and sits on the slopes of Monte San Valentin, the highest point in Patagonia at over 4,000 metres.
Like most glaciers, Glaciar Exploradores is retreating. In scientific terms, this means that the rate of ablation (ice melt) is occurring faster than the rate of accumulation (new ice formed from the compaction of snow).
In layman’s terms, the glacier is shrinking and its snout or face is retreating closer and closer to the mass of the glacier.
I’m not into doomsday tourism or rushing to see something before it’s gone (which in itself generally speeds up the rate of disappearance), but the Exploradores Glacier and other glaciers around Patagonia are one natural beauty that the earth may lose if we continue at the same rate of global warming.
What makes Glaciar Exploradores popular is the ability to trek out onto the ice. There are a handful of glaciers where you can have this experience around Patagonia, but given its remote location and difficulty of access, a trek onto Exploradores Glacier is one of the most affordable and least busy options.
After weeks in Patagonia, we had seen many glaciers and turned down many chances to walk onto the ice (namely at the Grey Glacier in Torres del Paine and Perito Moreno Glacier in Argentina).
We were saving ourselves (and our pennies) to finally hit the ice at Glaciar Exploradores. The reason for waiting was: 1) to save some money, as the glacier trekking tours here are substantially cheaper than in the more popular areas of Patagonia, and 2) to have a quieter, less crowded experience with a small group.
Glaciar Exploradores delivered on both fronts!
Where is Glaciar Exploradores
Glaciar Exploradores is located inside the Parque Nacional Laguna San Rafael in Chilean Patagonia.
The nearest town is Puerto Rio Tranquilo, one of a string of small towns located along the Carretera Austral, or Southern Highway, a mostly unpaved road providing access to this remote part of Patagonia.
It’s a long way from anything, so a visit to Puerto Rio Tranquilo (and subsequently the glacier) should really be part of a broader, in-depth exploration of the Carretera Austral region.
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How to get to Glaciar Exploradores
Accessing the glacier was always a huge challenge, but around 2010, a dirt road was constructed from Puerto Rio Tranquilo to the national park, through the Valle Exploradores.
The 85 km (53 mi) X-783 road runs from the town to Bahia Exploradores, a boat port where tours depart to another glacier in the park, Glaciar San Rafael.
The area where you start the trek to the Exploradores Glacier is approximately 50 km (31 mi) from Puerto Rio Tranquilo, and it takes about 1.5 hours to drive on the unpaved, bumpy road.
If your intention is to take a tour to walk onto the glacier, then your tour company will most likely include transport from Puerto Rio Tranquilo.
Some tour companies do offer a small discount if you drive yourself to the park. If you’ve got a 4×4 or high clearance vehicle, this is doable. However, I would advise against it unless you are planning to stay a night or more in the valley. It’s a long drive on top of a long day, and I guarantee you’ll be quite tired after your trek.
If you’re planning to visit the glacier independently (more details on this below), you’ll need to drive yourself to the park through the Valle Exploradores.
Either option assumes you are already in Puerto Rio Tranquilo, which is the jump-off town for visits to the glacier. I’ve got more detailed information about getting to the town in my dedicated guide, but in short, there are a couple of options:
- 🚗 Drive: it’s ~2.5 hours south of Villa Cerro Castillo or ~3.5 hours south of Coyhaique and Balmeceda Airport. If you’re travelling north, it’s ~2.5 hours from Cochrane. If you’re crossing the border from Argentina in Chile Chico, it’s ~3.5 hours.
- 🚌 Bus: there are buses to Puerto Rio Tranquilo from Chile Chico (near the Argentine border), Cochrane, Villa Cerro Castillo and Coyhaique.
When to visit Glaciar Exploradores
The general advice for visiting Patagonia is to come during the warmer months, which are between October – April.
There’s no guarantee these summer months will actually be warm though! Patagonia is prone to wild weather at any time of the year, and you should be prepared for rain, wind, snow or sun in any month.
I’m not 100% certain, but I believe tours to the glacier close down over the winter months (May/June – September/October). We visited in mid-April and had no problem organising our ice trek, but the tours are weather-dependent.
If there is a lot of rain, snow or wind forecast, or there has been any increased activity at the glacier, tours will be postponed at the last minute.
Glaciar Exploradores tour
Seeing the glacier from a lookout is one thing, but having the opportunity to walk on top of the ice is a truly special experience.
The Glaciar Exploradores tour is only available for people over the age of 18 with good physical fitness. It is rated as ‘hard’ and you will be walking more than 14 kilometres (8.7 mi) over the course of ~6 – 8 hours.
You might read older posts about the glacier trekking experience here. The glacier was actually closed for a short period in late 2023 after significant movement and calving of the glacier. The old route that they used for ice trekking was no longer viable, and eventually, trekking tours to the glacier reopened, but with a new, lengthier hiking route. This route approaches the glacier from a different area, staying further away from the calving zone.
The route is an out-and-back trail that first passes through a lush rainforest on a series of boardwalks before opening out on the frontal moraine area. This is the toughest part of the trek, and you are traversing a long section of boulders, uneven rocky path and eventually on the ‘dirty glacier’, with slippery ice covered in layers of gravel and dirt.
The fun starts when you reach the ‘clean’ ice. The crampons go on, your guides will give you a safety briefing about how to walk in crampons and stay safe on the ice, and then you’re away!
Glaciers are dynamic and constantly evolving, so no two tours to Glaciar Exploradores will be the same. The guides know the area well, but they are constantly wayfinding and charting the safest and most interesting course for you on the ever-changing ice.
They will look for crevasses, streams and ice lagoons and if you’re very lucky, an ice cave. The guides take safety very seriously and will only let you enter any caves they are familiar with and are confident are sturdy.
While all good tour companies have insurance, you do have to sign a waiver before you set off. Any activity involving a glacier is risky, given that they are constantly shifting and changing.
Best tour companies
There are lots of tour companies around Puerto Rio Tranquilo that offer ice trekking tours to the Exploradores Glacier. Most you won’t find online, given this area is quite remote and tourism hasn’t developed in the same way as more popular towns in Patagonia.
If you’re happy to wait until you arrive in town, you’ll see signs and sandwich boards amongst a sea of tour operators in little cabins along the lakeshore.
If you’d prefer to organise something in advance, we booked with 99% Aventura. They have an online presence and excellent reviews, and we were really happy with them.
🧊 Most tour companies require a minimum number of participants to run the tour, usually 4. If you’re visiting in the low(er) season, I’d recommend trying to organise something in advance so they can keep you posted on availability and any other groups interested in booking a tour
Cost
Give or take a couple of bucks, tours to the glacier are mostly fixed at one price across all tour companies.
For the 2024/2025 season, this was 150,000 CLP (~$155 USD).
This is substantially cheaper than what you would pay for the ‘minitrekking’ on Perito Moreno Glacier in Argentina, which costs upwards of $400 USD (depending on the constantly changing exchange rate) for a much shorter experience.
Inclusions
Again, every tour company is slightly different, so make sure you check the specifics of whoever you book with, but you should expect the following to be included:
- Return transport from Puerto Rio Tranquilo
- A qualified, specialist glacier guide (most likely Spanish speaking)
- All the gear required to trek on the ice (helmet, crampons, gaiters, harness)
- National park entrance fees
- A packed lunch and/or snack
Rough tour itinerary
I will go into more detail about our experience trekking on the ice below, but as a quick summary, this is what your Glaciar Exploradores tour can expect to look like.
Although multiple companies offer these tours, it seemed like most left town at the same time, and the experience is basically the same for everyone.
The timings can vary greatly between groups, and you are only as fast as your slowest member. Our group was quite fast-paced, and I think we finished the tour a lot quicker than other groups would.
- ⏰ 7:00 am – meet at the tour office in Puerto Rio Tranquilo and drive through the Valle Exploradores to the park
- ⏰ 8:30 am – arrive at the CONAF office in the Exploradores Sector of Parque Nacional Laguna San Rafael, toilet stop, distribute gear and start the first part of the trek through the forest and moraine
- ⏰ 11:00 am – arrive at the edge of the ice, safety briefing, crampons on and start hiking on the ice, looking for crevasses, streams and caves
- ⏰ 1:00 pm – return to the moraine section, take off the crampons and hike back towards the park entrance
- ⏰ 3:00 pm – arrive back at the CONAF office, toilet stop, return gear, and jump in the car for the drive back through Valle Exploradores
- ⏰ 5:00 pm – arrive back in Puerto Rio Tranquilo
What to wear and bring
Getting dressed for your ice trek is tough. On the one hand, you need to rug up with plenty of warm and waterproof layers. On the other hand, you are walking a lot, and will most likely be hot and sweaty!
Like everywhere in Patagonia, layering is key.
We visited on a grey, drizzly day with more rain forecast, so we committed to our waterproof layers straight away. I wore leggings with rain pants over them on the bottom and my hiking boots.
On top, I had a thermal top, fleece and a raincoat, with a beanie, buff and gloves. I was sweating by the end and wishing I’d worn a singlet or tee as a base layer, but I had read someone had a miserable day because they were so freezing, so it’s better to be over-prepared!
The temperature drastically drops once you hit the ice, so when you stop to put on your crampons, take the opportunity to put on some warmer layers. You absolutely must have gloves, particularly for the ice section, as your hands will be freezing.
⚠️ Our tour company mandated mid-cut hiking boots as opposed to low-level trainers. I think this is just to do with the sturdiness of your shoe on the ice, and the comfort and suitability for crampons
In addition to the gear you’re wearing, you should pack:
- 🧥 Raincoat and pants
- ☔️ Dry bags and/or waterproof bag cover (our tour company gave us a waterproof bag to use)
- 🧣 Gloves, scarf/buff and beanie
- 😎 Sunglasses and hat
- 🌞 Sunscreen (the reflections off the ice seriously burn!)
- 📷 Camera or phone
- 💦 Water bottle (at least 1 – 2 litres per person)
- 🍎 Extra snacks (if you think you’ll be hungry)
Our experience trekking Glaciar Exploradores
Our Glaciar Exploradores tour did not actually get off to the best start!
We slept the night before in our camper in the main car park of Puerto Rio Tranquilo, where you are permitted to stay overnight for free. What we didn’t plan for was the bar across the street blasting music until 4:00 am because it was a Saturday night.
We snuck in a few hours of sleep before our 5:30 am alarm, but we were both very tired and extremely grumpy! The weather forecast for the day was not looking good, but we didn’t have time to wait any longer to take the tour, so we had to bite the bullet, cross our fingers and hope the rain held off.
Because we visited in April, and the Aysen region, where Puerto Rio Tranquilo is located, does not follow daylight savings, it was pitch black as we met at the 99% Aventura office in town, and remained dark for almost the entire drive into the park.
Bad because we missed the views of the Valle Exploradores as we drove, but not so bad as we were able to close our eyes and get a bit more sleep before we arrived. Although the brain-rattling bumps on the X-783 road did not aid sleep, I was constantly knocking my head against the window and waking myself up!
The day was just dawning as we arrived at the CONAF office in the Exploradores Sector of the national park. We took the chance to use the toilet, and our guide handed over our bags with the gear we would need to trek on the ice.
We had packed our own backpacks as we didn’t expect to get a nice waterproof bag, but it saved ours from getting wet and dirty, so we transferred our extra layers, water and camera into their bag, along with the lunch they provided, our crampons and harness. We donned our helmets straight away.
Our guide gave us a quick run-through of what to expect from here. They are very adamant that this is a difficult trek and remind you that you need to keep up with the group or risk being sent back on your own before hitting the ice.
Our group of six plus two guides set off into a beautiful, moist green forest. The first part of the walk is on wooden boardwalks, and it was so dense and lush. Moss covered every surface, it was like a fairytale.
We broke out of the forest to our first glimpse of the glacier. We continued along the trail until we reached the moraine area. What was a lush forest was now an open, rocky area that stretched in front of us for miles. It felt more like the surface of the moon than a glacier.
Mist hung on top of the mountains, concealing any chance of a view of San Valentin, but it was very moody and atmospheric nevertheless.
We passed lagoons that actually reminded me of the crater lake on top of Santa Ana Volcano in El Salvador. I couldn’t believe a glacier looked more like a volcano, but the similarities were shocking!
As we continued, it became clear that we were actually walking on ice, with our guides pointing out slippery sections of black ice to avoid. It’s easy to miss when it’s entirely covered in gravel and huge boulders, but we were on the ice! The glacier looming in the distance ahead was getting closer and closer.
Just over 2 hours after we started walking, we finally made it to the clean ice. A sea of white patterns lay ahead of us. The ice looked like waves peaking in the ocean, it was surreal.
Our guides helped us put on our crampons and gave us a quick demo on how to correctly use them to walk securely on the ice.
The first steps we took felt strange. We have never worn crampons before or been on ice (we’ve barely seen snow in Australia!), so this was entirely new for us. I couldn’t wipe the smile off my face; it was a pinch-me moment.
For the next 1.5 hours we traipsed around the ice. I honestly couldn’t believe where we were. Our guide pointed out cracks and deep crevasses in the ice, and we wandered past glacial streams and lagoons with water so bright blue it hurt your eyes. We hauled ourselves up walls of ice with a pickaxe and descended down into caves.
Throughout this time, our guide provided very detailed information about the glacier, what we were seeing, how it was formed, why it’s retreating and more. It was entirely in Spanish though, and although we got the gist of it, we did sadly miss out on some of the finer details. I’ll save the scientific explanation and let your own guide explain (hopefully in English if you request that).
In the entire time we were trekking on the moraine and the ice, we only saw one other small group from a distance. For most of the day, it felt like we were the only people on this huge, wild glacier. I know we would have had a very different experience had we gone for the ice trekking at Perito Moreno Glacier.
Eventually, we had to drag ourselves off the clean white ice, take off our crampons and walk back the way we came.
The trek back was uneventful, and we made it back to the CONAF office much quicker than the way there. We were tired but absolutely beaming.
We all climbed back in the car to start the long drive back to Puerto Rio Tranquilo. I spent most of the time looking out the window at the beautiful scenery of the Valle Exploradores that we had missed in the dark in the morning. Sleep eventually overcame though and I dozed for the last part of the drive.
We arrived back in Puerto Rio Tranquilo starving, so we ordered a takeaway pizza before jumping in the car to drive a little further north along the Carretera Austral to find a quiet camp spot for the night.
How to visit the Exploradores Glacier without a tour
It is not possible to trek on the ice on Glaciar Exploradores without a guide. However, it is possible to do a self-guided hike to some miradors of the glacier.
Before I explain this option, I will say that as the glacier retreats, the view from the miradors is not that great. It’s obviously a stunning area, but you can not get that close to the glacier.
To visit independently, you will need a car (4×4 or at least high clearance) to drive yourself along X-783 through the Valle Exploradores.
Along the way, you’ll see the Cascada La Nutria, a waterfall right on the side of the road. There are plenty of pullouts to enjoy the views of the Rio Exploradores, with two lakes, Lago Tranquilo and Lago Bayo, and if you’re blessed with a clear day, you will see Monte San Valentin peaking out!
After about 50 km (31 mi), you will reach the national park CONAF office for the Exploradores Sector of the park. From here, you can pay your entry fee (11,400 CLP for foreigners) and hike on one of the self-guided trails.
There’s not a lot of accurate information about the trail online, but there are maps at the park office, and the rangers can explain it to you. From what I’ve read, I think it’s about 5 km (3.1 mi) return that goes to two miradors.
Note that this sector is closed on Mondays. According to Chile’s national park website, you can complete a self-guided hike from Tuesday – Sunday between 8:30 am – 10:00 am, with last entry at 5:00 pm. I don’t think that is entirely accurate, but there is not a lot of reliable information about this area online. I forgot to take notice of any signs or hours at the ranger station during our tour, sorry!
Planning a trip to Puerto Rio Tranquilo
For more information about where to stay near the Exploradores Glacier, other things to do around town and more detailed information about getting there, getting around, and the best places to eat, don’t forget to read our Puerto Rio Tranquilo guide.
🧊 Everything you need to know about Puerto Rio Tranquilo
Final thoughts: Ice trekking at Glaciar Exploradores
Trekking on the ice at Glaciar Exploradores was one of the most incredible experiences we had during our two months in Patagonia.
For two Aussies who have barely ever seen snow, to strap on crampons and literally walk on ice, it was a special memory that we will always treasure.
We are so glad we decided to wait for the Glaciar Exploradores, not only for the cost saving, but to have such an immersive, all-day experience with barely anyone else around!
If you’re travelling the Carretera Austral, do not miss the chance to trek on this glacier.
While you’re in Puerto Rio Tranquilo, make sure you also visit the Marble Caves, a beautiful set of mineral formations in Lago General Carrera.
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- Puerto Rio Tranquilo, Chile Travel Guide: Ice & Marble
- How to Visit the Marble Caves in Chile: Worth the Journey?
