If you like the cold, Ushuaia in Tierra del Fuego is one of the ideal places to go and enjoy it. In this destination, it's not common to find temperatures above 18°C even in the middle of summer, so during your visit you may see some snow even if it's on the highest peaks. This can be quite picturesque, although when it comes to trekking, sometimes the snow is not as beautiful as when the landscape is thawed. With this in mind, you should plan your outings well to enjoy nature at its best ❤️.

As I had already been to Ushuaia in the year 2023, I had already done many of the most touristy treks, thinking that I might not visit Ushuaia again. But as fate would have it, so on my second trip, I had to look for other treks that were a bit longer and more demanding. Beautiful scenery is what is in abundance in this part of my country, so I just had to choose one, find some companions and go.

Luckily, Couchsurfing helped me a lot with that, so finding trekking partners was no problem. The thing was that those treks I was missing were the ones that took you to beautiful lagoons. According to the pictures on the internet, these landscapes included very blue and beautiful bodies of water, but if they were frozen and covered with snow, they could not be well appreciated. At the time of this walk, it was mid-December and summer was just beginning, so there was a good chance that the ice was still lingering in these areas.

After putting together a small trekking group via CS, I told my occasional friends of my intention to visit the Cinco Hermanos Lagoon, but that it might be frozen and we would not see much. They were very adventurous and decided that we should go anyway, as at worst, we would see beautiful frozen mountains. This trek was a medium difficulty trek, so completing it would be a good challenge and off we went for the adventure.

This hike started 2.5 km from the exit of the city of Ushuaia and after visiting the Bridal Veil Waterfall, which we were passing by, we continued towards the lagoon. This hike was 8 km long and had most of the trail inside the forest, except for the last kilometre when we came out into the clearing and had to climb the steepest slope of all. As I always say, this stretch was quite tiring on the legs, but nothing that couldn't be done with patience and the desire to see the reward.

Three hours after we started, we finally reached the beautiful lagoon. We were pleasantly surprised to discover that it was already 75% thawed, showing the beautiful blue colour we had seen in photos. Its entire shore was covered with snow, so it was necessary to pass carefully, but as there were already footprints of other people, it was not difficult to follow the path.

We stayed for a while at the lagoon, having a quiet lunch until the weather reminded us that we were in the middle of a mountain surrounded by ice and snow. I can't explain the freezing wind that began to blow, so much so that it invited us to retreat if we wanted to keep our body temperature at the right level. On our return hike, which was much easier than the ascent, we took a different path on the last part, which led us to what looked like the premises of an abandoned campsite. It would have been great if it had worked, as we really needed a hot drink at that point.

The trek to the Laguna Cinco Hermanos was one of the treks I had left pending on my first trip and finally being able to do it was a good experience. I was glad to be able to see the lagoon somewhat thawed, because the mixture of melted water and ice parts created a unique landscape. Throughout my stay in Ushuaia I never ceased to be amazed by all that beauty: it always ends up being much more beautiful than what you can see in a photo ❤️.

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This route is highly recommended; it has everything that cycling tourists love: a bit of asphalt (with very little traffic) at the beginning and end, some of the most scenic rural roads I've ever traveled, with undulations and fields with varied colors, despite being winter. Active tracks with lots of stones, railway bridges not suitable for those who suffer from vertigo, as they have missing sleepers, abandoned stations, and very historic general stores.

The meeting point was in front of the Capitán Sarmiento museum station (very beautiful, by the way). You can safely leave your cars in front of it, and upon returning, there's the Club Sarmiento where you can use the restrooms and have that restorative coffee with milk.

We took a brief tour of this picturesque town and then started on asphalt towards the El Silencio area. The bridge over the Cahuane stream is a must-stop for taking photos and maybe removing some clothing if you're doing the outing like we did on the coldest day of winter. Afterward, we passed through the El Silencio area, where there is a rural school.

Further on, the roads become incredible with those undulations so typical of the area, very beautiful views, and well-maintained roads with no mud. We passed a grill that caught our eye for a future outing; it's called La Sucursal de Vitto. We also took the opportunity to use the bathroom and take photos.

Then, to the left, the road takes you to Ireneo Portela, a beautiful little town with its station and sign, some bars, a store, and a restaurant, also suitable for returning. From there, the road borders the tracks and up to the bridge that crosses the Arrecifes River.

Crossing those bridges is quite an adventure and adrenaline rush, with missing sleepers. Afterward, you continue along the active tracks, full of ballast; there are at least 2 endless kilometers to a crossroads that takes you to Ingeniero Moneta.

It must be said that (as we already knew) the famous green tunnels no longer exist; they were pruned.

The Moneta station is in ruins and invaded by vegetation, and it is a very small area. We continue towards Beladrich, a famous general store belonging to the San Pedro district that is always open.

They treat you super kindly and at more than cheap prices; they have snacks, sandwiches, choripán, and drinks. They have a salamander stove that kept us warm during that rest and lunch. San Martín passed through its general store, Molina Campos was there, a movie was filmed, next to it is a bowling alley, and beyond is the club that they are restoring and bringing back to life.

On the way to Capitán Sarmiento, on a downhill road, you pass over the Andrade bridge, which also crosses the Arrecifes, and the road continues to an asphalt road that takes you directly back to Capitán Sarmiento.
These are places not to be missed.

Besides being a perfect place to enjoy long walks in the mountains or short rides in the city, Ushuaia's surroundings also offer space for good drives. Due to its location on the map, this city is entered and exited by the same route if you arrive by land, so even before entering the city you can enjoy beautiful landscapes. The scenic stretch of National Route 3 offers a lot of photographic corners that are worth seeing. And if you arrived in the city by plane like me, you definitely can't miss a visit to this route.

Ushuaia is a city located inside Tierra del Fuego Island and the fastest way to get there is by plane. However, if once there your intention is to visit the mountains to the north, you must take National Route 3. This route is very popular for the most famous trekking of all, the one to the Esmeralda Lagoon, 18 km away from the city, but on the way you can also see interesting landscapes just by getting out of the car for a while.

During my stay in Ushuaia I had the opportunity to make many new friends through Couchsurfing. Most of them were local people who were eager to walk around a bit with tourists and show them around. In the first few days I met Saul, who told me about how beautiful this route is. He was the one who offered me a personalized tour to get to know these places better. Our first stop was at Mirador del Valle Carbajal, 14 km from the city. In this place there is a space prepared to receive visitors, with informative signs and space to rest, in addition to the view of the mountains.

The next stop on our drive was about 6 km further on. In the middle, we passed the parking lot to go to Laguna Esmeralda and it was full of cars, as usual. But we kept going until we reached another less crowded point on the route, called Valle de Tierra Mayor. This place was a large field with peat and mountains in the background, plus a restaurant and service center.

This valley was completely clear in the spring, but in the winter is when it is covered with snow and functions as a cross-country ski slope. In the meantime, it is just a valley where you can walk freely, as long as the peat allows you to do so. In case you don't know, peat is decomposing organic material that has been produced where there used to be glaciers millions of years ago. These soils are wet and appear spongy, so you should walk carefully on them if you don't want to get your feet wet.

Visiting these valleys is a quiet option if you want to see a little more of Ushuaia's landscapes without having to walk so far. At the time of our afternoon visit, the restaurant was closed but we still took the opportunity to walk around a bit, while my new Couchsurfing friend told me what it was like to live in Ushuaia permanently and I told him all about the journey I had made to get there. I like the experience of meeting people through this traveler's app, because you can always have interesting moments like these.

What I liked about this walk was that we were able to do it on the half afternoon I had free on a Saturday after work. Getting 20 kilometers away from the city doesn't take that long and allows you to see beautiful places like these. Even though it was in the middle of spring, it was still very cold and the weather was quite changeable, but that's all part of visiting Ushuaia. Meeting a new friend and sharing a walk together was a good anecdote during the trip: I was glad to have visited these beautiful places without having to walk for hours and hours.

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