Santa Cruz
Hotels in Santa Cruz- Code:Z
- Type:province
- Native name:Santa Cruz Province
- Population:337,226 (2022)
- Area:243,943 km²
- Capital:Río Gallegos
Introduction
Santa Cruz, in the heart of Argentine Patagonia, holds two of South America's single greatest natural sights: the actively advancing Perito Moreno Glacier near El Calafate, and the granite spires of Fitz Roy above the trekking town of El Chaltén — reason enough on their own for many travellers' entire trip to Patagonia.
Overview
Santa Cruz is vast, sparsely populated Patagonian steppe, but its two main tourist towns anchor two of the most extraordinary landscapes in South America. El Calafate sits on the shore of Lago Argentino and is the gateway to the Perito Moreno Glacier, part of the Los Glaciares National Park (UNESCO) — a wall of ice 5 kilometres wide that, unlike almost every other glacier on Earth, is still advancing, regularly calving huge slabs of ice into the lake with a sound like cannon fire. A short drive from town gives close, safe viewing from a network of walkways; ice trekking directly on the glacier with crampons is also possible. Further north, El Chaltén — built specifically as a trekking base and now Argentina's self-declared national trekking capital — sits directly beneath the Fitz Roy and Cerro Torre massifs, granite spires among the most technically demanding peaks on Earth for climbers, but reachable as day hikes for ordinary trekkers, the Laguna de los Tres trail delivering one of the most photographed mountain views anywhere. Both towns are genuinely remote by international standards, and getting between them, and to them from the rest of the country, is a real part of planning a Santa Cruz trip.
Discover Santa Cruz
Perito Moreno — the Glacier That Advances
Almost every glacier on Earth is retreating; Perito Moreno is one of the rare exceptions, still advancing into Lago Argentino at a pace that keeps it in a rough equilibrium. That advance is what produces the glacier's signature spectacle: the ice periodically dams a channel of the lake, and when the pressure becomes too great, a huge ice bridge collapses in a dramatic, thunderous rupture — an event visitors sometimes get lucky enough to witness directly from the viewing walkways, though it can't be predicted or timed. Even without a rupture, the steady calving of smaller icebergs off the glacier's 60-metre face happens constantly and is reason enough to spend several hours at the viewpoints.
El Chaltén and the Fitz Roy Massif
El Chaltén exists because of the mountains above it — the town was founded in 1985 largely to assert an Argentine presence in a then-disputed border area, and has since grown into the country's premier trekking base, with genuinely excellent, well-marked, permit-free day hikes starting directly from town. The Laguna de los Tres trail, roughly a full day's round trip, climbs to a lake beneath Fitz Roy's sheer granite face and is considered one of South America's finest single-day hikes; Laguna Torre, beneath the equally dramatic Cerro Torre, is a gentler alternative. Weather here changes fast and the peaks are frequently shrouded in cloud, so building in more than one day increases the odds of a clear-weather summit view.
Ways to Experience This Destination
Perito Moreno's ice walkways and boat trips, with the rare chance to witness an active ice-bridge rupture.
El Chaltén's permit-free day hikes to Laguna de los Tres and Laguna Torre beneath Fitz Roy and Cerro Torre.
Frequently asked questions
How do I get to El Calafate and El Chaltén?
Why is the Perito Moreno Glacier unusual?
Do I need a permit to trek near El Chaltén?
How many days should I spend in Santa Cruz?
This overview comes from Visaja's worldwide missions database (visaja.com), checked against official government sources; for binding answers, the mission itself always has the final word.