Mt Fitz Roy - One of the Best Hikes in the World

Friday, January 9, 2026

Fun Fact: Mt Fitz Roy's silhouette is featured on the clothing company Patagonia's logo

At a cafe in El Chaltén, Kate overheard some girls talking about the hike to Mt Fitz Roy. One of them said they wanted to go at sunrise and another responded that she was more of a sunset girl. Sunrise girl did her homework - it's not a moment you want to miss. The super hiker prize definitely goes to anyone willing to get up God-awful early! When the rising sun hits the peaks, the jagged granite peaks are ignited with fiery hues of orange and pink.

Everyone was 100% in for an early start to see the sunrise. We compromised on the start time. You can leave at 1am (in the beginning of January) to see it from the top - or do what we did. We started in the dark at 4am to hike the ~3km to Mirador Fitz Roy.

Starting our adventure - hiking in the dark at 4am

Having traveled all this way down to Patagonia, I was really hoping our hike wouldn't be canceled due to dangerous wind gusts that can get up to 75 mph. It's notorious for crappy weather. Our last handful of trips didn't have weather working in our favor, but our weather today was glorious! I won't complain one bit about the cloud hat that hovered over Fitz Roy's tallest peak all day.

We got to the mirador in about 70 minutes. Fitz Roy was visible but the sun wasn't over the horizon yet. We had about 30 minutes to wait until the show started.

Waiting for the sunlight to light up Fitz Roy

The rising sun lights a fire on Fitz Roy - it is an awe-inspiring effect you don't want to miss! "This is pretty cool mom," Jeremy proclaimed.

Next (at 5.3 km, shortly after the trail merges again) we made a pit stop at "secret falls". Still in the shadows, it would be a better stop later in the day.

The next 5 km is beautiful …

This is a long hike but it felt like cakewalk compared to Chile's Base of the Towers hike. Until we got to the final bit - the main challenge. The sign warns you that you gain 1300 feet of elevation in 1 km. Our steady pace kept me in heart rate zone 2 and got me to the top in a little over an hour.

The sign where the trail gets tough - warning you it’s a challenge!

The hard part of the trail is the last 1 km (my watch told me it was a mile)

We made it to the top - Laguna de los Tres

Once you get down to the lakeshore, you can head to the left along the shore for about 5 minutes for the spectacular panoramic views over Lago in the adjacent valley.

I think the crux of the hike's difficulty is descending steeply down from the lake on the loose rocks and gravel. Thank goodness there was no wind to throw me off balance!

"Omg my butt is so itchy," Kate moaned. She swears she was bit a million times by the flies (but only has 3 bites to prove it).

According to the trail's sign, the hike to the top - Laguna de Los Tres - is 10 km. That would make for 12.4 miles roundtrip but somehow we all logged 16 miles.

After dragging our butts off the mountain, we all went into town to claim our hiker's prize: beer, pizza, Diet Coke, and/or smoothie. We were exhausted!

Leaving town after the hike, we were driving for hardly a minute when I suggested to Viv that now would be a good time to give Jeremy that foot massage he was asking for. There was no response, just their sleeping heads swaying in unison over the road's bumps and turns. It has been a long day!

We are on our way back to El Calafate, a major tourist hub serving as the base for exploring Los Glaciares National Park, the Perito Moreno Glacier, and other Patagonian attractions. 

Hiking in Patagonia - 46 miles over 4 days - was absolutely amazing but we are all pretty excited about not needing our hiking boots anymore this trip!  

Is The Fitz Roy Hike Worth It?

Yes, this hike is absolutely worth the effort! It is a defining image of Patagonia. Now having completed both popular hikes in Patagonia - Base of the Towers in Chile's Torres del Paine and Argentina's Mt Fitz Roy - we all vote Fitz Roy as the winner. They are comparable hikes but Fitz Roy is so much easier (even on day #4 hiking legs) and incredibly scenic and beautiful.

Logistics:

• Our hotel told us it takes 1 hr 45 minutes to get to Mirador Fitz Roy. It took us ~1 hr 1 0 minutes. We weren't going neither fast nor slow, but we did have a determined pace.
• The sun's glowing effect on the peaks lasted about 10 minutes.
• The perk of a hike to see the sunrise is beating the crowds. The trail is often hardly more than 1 person wide.
• The benefit of seeing sunrise from the Mirador instead of the top - other than sleeping in - is that you have daylight so don't miss all the magnificent views along the way up
• The hike does not have any services like food, drinks, or clean toilets
• I brought a she-wee on the hike because I read that the bathrooms are disgusting. The toilet we used at Poincenot campground was no different than any pit toilet back at home - but the one at the base of the climb was a disgusting hole in the ground covered with poop.
• There are about 6 places in town to rent hiking poles. We got ours from Patagonia Hikes for 10,000 pesos per set
• If you read that the hike is free then it is an outdated website. They started charging a fee in October 2024. You can buy a 3-day pass (for the price of 2 days) for Los Glaciares National Park that includes the 2 main hikes in El Chalten as well as the Perito Moreno Glacier.