Outings and excursions · San Carlos de Bariloche
Lake Mascardi: the great lake on Route 40
Photos: Argenjosh · CC BY-SA 4.0 / Andrei from Porto Alegre, Brazil · CC BY 2.0 / Krzysztof Rudnik · CC BY-SA 3.0 / Gonce · CC BY-SA 4.0 (Wikimedia Commons)
About 30 kilometers from Bariloche along Route 40, Lake Mascardi is a long, deep lake with forested shores, campgrounds and access to Pampa Linda and Cerro Tronador.
After Lake Gutiérrez, Route 40 heads into a bigger landscape. Lake Mascardi appears on the right and stays there: it is about 23 kilometers long, nearly 4 kilometers wide and reaches a maximum depth of around 218 meters.
It is the heart of a very rich mountain area. Along its northern shore, Route 40 skirts the Catedral arm. To reach the Tronador arm you have to leave the highway toward Pampa Linda, on a road that follows the shoreline and passes the Los Rápidos campground. Before that, on Route 81, is the La Querencia campground, about 4.5 kilometers from the entrance.
Anglers know it well: it holds brook, rainbow and brown trout, with fish commonly weighing one to one and a half kilos and browns of more than three kilos. Hikers find their place too: a trail of about 24.5 kilometers links Lake Mascardi with Lake Steffen and is done in one long day, of medium to high difficulty, for those looking for a real trek.
For everyone else, a stop on the shore is enough. The lake, the mountains and the silence explain why this is one of the most recognizable views in the southern part of the national park.
- Type of tour: Scenic, fishing and trekking
- Difficulty level: Low (walk); medium to high (trek to Lake Steffen)
- Tip: Fishing requires a National Park permit; for the trek to Lake Steffen, register and set out very early.
