Outings and excursions · San Carlos de Bariloche
Grand Circuit: Enchanted Valley, Villa Traful and Villa La Angostura
Photos: Tomastapia00 · CC BY-SA 4.0 / Manuel pino · CC BY-SA 3.0 (Wikimedia Commons)
About 240 kilometers in one day: the Limay valley, the rocks of the Enchanted Valley, Lake Traful and the return along the Seven Lakes Road.
The Circuito Grande, or Grand Circuit, is the long loop: about 240 kilometers that leave Bariloche, climb toward the steppe, drop into the Traful valley and come back along the Seven Lakes Road. It takes a full day on the road, and it's best enjoyed that way, at an easy pace.
You head northeast on National Route 237. After crossing the Ñireco and Ñirihuau rivers, the road hugs the Limay, which marks the border between Río Negro and Neuquén. The forest thins out and rock walls take over: first the Amphitheater, a natural hollow shaped like a Roman circus, and then the Valle Encantado (Enchanted Valley), some 58 kilometers from town, with its erosion-carved figures such as the Finger of God and the Sentinel.
Further on lies Confluencia, where the Traful flows into the Limay, now covered by the Alicurá reservoir. Here you turn onto Provincial Route 65, a 61-kilometer road linking Route 237 with Route 40, partly gravel and partly under paving works. The landscape closes back into forest and Lake Traful appears all at once: about 76 km² of water with a maximum depth of around 300 meters. Before reaching the village, stop at the Mirador del Viento, a rocky crag that drops straight down to the lake.
Villa Traful, founded in 1936 on the south shore inside Nahuel Huapi National Park, is the place to walk to the Coa Co and Arroyo Blanco waterfalls or take a boat out to the submerged forest. From there, Route 65 continues past Puerto Arrayán and El Portezuelo until it meets Route 40, the Seven Lakes Road.
The way back skirts lakes Correntoso and Espejo, goes through Villa La Angostura and past the isthmus of the Quetrihue peninsula, and returns to Bariloche along the shore of Nahuel Huapi.
- Tour type: Sightseeing, scenic drive
- Difficulty level: Easy (drive with optional short walks)
- Tip: Before setting out, check the condition of Route 65 at the tourist information offices or in the National Park reports: in bad weather the stretch between Villa Traful and Route 40 can get difficult, and it may be better to visit Villa Traful and Villa La Angostura on separate days.
