Hiking in Tierra del Fuego

For those wanting to spend some time outdoors, you could certainly do worse than either Glacier Martial or Tierra del Fuego. The former is the closer of the two, and a great choice for avid hikers that want the potential to actually make their way back to town by foot. Tierra del Fuego is a bit further away (at all of 12 kilometers), but it might be worth the extra effort, especially if you like the idea of hiking near the coast and also want other activities like kayaking. 

We chose to do one of the most popular hikes, which is the Coastal Path (Senda Costera); a roughly 5 mile trail going along the coastline, weaving in and out of surreal Lenga forests. As a bonus we were greeted by a fox at the Trailhead, that got so close to us that I thought it was at first a dog! You can start either at the End of the World Post Office or from the Visitor’s Center, and then take a few hours to finish the trail. We opted to start at the Post Office, which meant that we were rewarded with sandwiches (and beer!) once we got to the Visitor’s Center at the other end, taking the shuttle back to Ushuaia a few hours later. 

Overall, we lucked out as most of our days in Ushuaia were quite rainy and chilly, but had spectacular sunny weather for the entirety of the hike. As if on queue, just as we were approaching the Visitor’s Center the weather turned drastically as we were pelted by stinging sideways rain and wind gusts that felt like they could carry us away. Patagonia tends to have a way of reminding you (sometimes violently) that you need to be dressed for terrible weather, even if the sun is shining brilliantly when you set out.