Laguna de los Tres: Weather and the Best Season

The season for Laguna de los Tres is spring to autumn: the national park recommends visiting from September to April. Summer is also the windy season, and the last climb to the lagoon is the part the park warns about in wind and rain. In winter snow and mud make every trail harder, and from May to September you must register at the park’s information centre before you walk. Whatever the month, Fitz Roy can be in cloud on the day you go, so the best plan is a spare day.

See the guided day and its dates

What the park says about the season

The Administración de Parques Nacionales recommends visiting Los Glaciares between September and April. It warns that summer winds are intense, that the wind is cold and nights are cool even in summer, and that from May to October temperatures are low and snowfall heavy (APN, park overview, read November 2026).

The park’s North Zone trail leaflet adds two things for El Chaltén. In winter, snow and mud change the trails and make them harder. And the weather in town is different from the weather in the mountains, so a calm morning on the main street says little about the moraine under Fitz Roy.

Wind on the last climb

The leaflet’s note on the Laguna de los Tres section is blunt: “Very steep trail. Dangerous when it’s windy and rainy.” On a windy day the sensible plan is to walk as far as the Poincenot camp or Laguna Capri and decide there. The guided days work the same way: on Azul Latina Travel’s day from El Calafate, the guide decides on the trail whether the group goes up, and anyone unsure walks to Laguna Capri with the second guide.

The calendar is Azul Latina Travel’s day from El Calafate, from US$395 a person (checked November 2026), at least two per booking. It cannot be refunded, so a bad forecast after booking does not get your money back. Pick a date with a spare day behind it.

September

September is the first month of the park’s recommended season and the last month of its registration rule: until the end of September, registration at the information centre is compulsory to walk the trails (APN). It also sits inside the May-to-October stretch the park describes as cold and snowy. Expect snow on the higher ground and a harder last climb than in summer. Azul Latina Travel’s day carries crampons “if needed”; On Patagonia Adventures’ guided trek says the last 1.5 km may include snow or ice.

Forecasts and cloud

No forecast can promise that Fitz Roy will be clear. The El Calafate day trips show how often it is not: cloud over the mountain is one of the complaints that repeat in their low reviews. Check the forecast from Argentina’s national weather service, the Servicio Meteorológico Nacional, the day before, and keep in mind the leaflet’s warning that the mountains do not share the town’s weather.

Sunrise at the lagoon

Seeing the first light on Fitz Roy from the lagoon means walking up in the dark, and the park leaflet asks hikers to plan their walking time so they are back before night. The way to do it is a night at the Poincenot camp, which the leaflet lists with “camping inside the forest”, and the last climb before dawn with a torch. Camp Summit sells guided camping trips at its permanent camp there on GetYourGuide: one night from US$618 a person and two nights from US$1,018 (checked November 2026), both new listings without reviews yet. Camping is allowed only at the designated sites, and fires are not allowed (park leaflet). The guided day trips from El Calafate do not reach the lagoon at sunrise.

Before you go, every month

• Buy the park pass online and pay by card; cash is not accepted at the El Chaltén portals (APN).
• Carry warm, waterproof layers, gloves, sunglasses and sun cream: the leaflet’s own list.
• Expect little or no phone signal on the trail.
• Start early. On the leaflet’s figures the walk from the trailhead to the lagoon takes about 5 hours one way.