Camping Libre El Huala (Free) | Established Campground

Argentina

Details

Verified:
about 1 month ago
Altitude:
0.0 masl
Website:
None
Phone:
None
Contributor:
panamnotes.com

Amenities

Electricity:
No
Wifi:
No
Kitchen:
No
Restaurant:
No
Showers:
No
Water:
No
Toilets:
Pit Toilets
Big Rig Friendly:
Yes
Tent Friendly:
Yes
Pet Friendly:
No
Sanitation Dump Station:
No

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Description

This is a huge camp inside the national park with large individual sites for tents and views over the lake. No facilities apart from chemical toilets and fire places. Fires are allowed but you must bring wood from off site. You can hike up Cerro Cristal south of the campground. The trail starts down the road. This place is an alternative for the Perito Moreno Glacier parking where they no longer allow campers overnight. The road in is gravel and it is a bit bumpy but a 4WD is not required. Big rigs may struggle lower in the site as the road in the camp is narrow in places. Lots of sites are cordoned off and only for tent camping; there are a few big parking lots for vans but they are very exposed to wind. Water only available for extinguishing fires.

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Amazing camping spots in a huge area with stunning views overlooking the glacier, lakes and mountains. We stayed here for 3 nights and absolutely loved it. Pit toilets are fine and the Claro signal is surprisingly strong.
Highly recommend.

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Very nice and free (!!) camping spot. Some pit toilets are around that seems okish. Some places especially for motor homes and for tents.

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Very nice place with spots only for motorhomes.
Very very quiet, the day and the night. The national guard building il as about 300m but they didn’t come to see us.

Spot vraiment très joli avec des emplacements réservés pour les camping car.
Très très calme, aussi bien jour que nuit. Le bâtiment des gardes du parc est tout près (300m) mais ils ne sont pas venus nous voir.

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what a stunning place and view. free of charge. Friendly guardaparque. You can reach the trails (cerro cristal and painting rocks) by foot. some very basic toilets are spread over the campground.

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Definitely worth the cycle. The gravel road is really not that bad. Its washboard but you can mostly find a spot that’s a bit smoother than the rest and there really isn’t much traffic at all. That said it might be easier to ride the long way round on tarmac and then south east to join the final section if there is some wind. I struggled cycling a bit on the gravel with already tired legs and then discovered there was actually a bus as he kindly stopped and offered me a lift when I was about half way. Of course I said yes. The area around the lake and mountains is simply gorgeous. To the guy who said the glacier is just a dot, its not. It’s obviously not close but you can see it clearly. Especially if you don’t want to actually visit the over commercialised glacier and crowds. This whole valley is serene and quiet. I stayed 2 nights on a weekend. A few families and people staying Saturday but super quiet Sunday night. Cristal hike alone is worth visiting! Its gorgeous. Actually quite a short hike but its super steep and a nice challenge. Can be power hiked and jog down in just over two hours but more leisurely about 4 hours. Not sure about the person who said it took 6. The camp itself is great really. No facilities bit places to find wind protection. I found plot 19 had a good little hide away from the wind for a 2-3 man tent. Left my bike and stuff here all day whilst hiking. Then visited the paid camp down the road. Bought a coke, used the free wifi then used the toilet and shower before filling 4 litre water bottles and walking back on the beach. If you have time and the weather is nice definitely come here!

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Great place! Shelter form the wind for tents in the lower sites, they let us park the motos right next to the tent, super friendly guardaparques you can get some drinking water from them or at the river nearby and good spot to hike cerró cristal which has amazing views! Spent 2 nights and didn’t get charged a thing! Take that Chile!!!

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o camping é um dos lugares mais bonitos que ja acampamos. ficamos duas noites. gratuito. o guarda parque entrega a permissão para acamparmos e nos dá instruções sobre o local. tem ponto de coleta de água.

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Nice campground with great views of the surrounding glaciated peaks. We were able to pull up to a site in our campervan. Quiet on a Monday night, only one other van. Sites are really spaced out. Parking areas looked nice too. No campfires allowed right now. About 1.5km from the trailhead to Cerro de los Cristales. Freeeee!!!

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Great campsite for tents; not so great for campers. They now have obstructed every site with wooden posts, so with your car/moterhome you can only camp at one of the 3 parking lots. All parking lots have a great view though, but are also very windy. In the morning (at around 10), the guardaparqua drives around to give you a (free) permit.

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Great site, with beautiful views across the valley. Pit toilets conditions is like day 7 of a music festival, pretty gross. The Cerro Cristal hike is well worth doing, if the weather is good; if you aren't doing the hike there's no other reason to come to this campsite and you may as well go back to a free camp in el Calafate and avoid the 33kms of ripio. The first 10km from the main road is easy but the last 20 is much slower going. 4x4 not needed but it's bumpy washboard with occasional big stones sticking up and just seems to last forever.

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Beautiful spot indeed! And the 30km gravel road to it is the easiest gravel road we've had in an already long trip trough Patagonia. We drive a small 2WD campervan, took us half an hour ( about 60km/hr). We've got our entry tickets stamped by the rangers house (just knock on the front door), for a free visit to the park the next day. Ps, you can indeed see the glacier from here, but it is just a really
tiny white spot far on the horizon :)

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great spot! lots of space to select from and you have the option of making a fire (you HAVE to bring wood from outside the park). the pit toilets werent the cleanest and there were a few places were you could see tissue from people going to the bathroom outside. overall though we would recommend this spot!

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Exact description, one of the nicest spot we camp. Places protected from wind for tents. Places for rigs and places for tents. A huge truck was here si i think you can go with big rigs. Small river to get fresh water

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thank you camper god for free places like this.

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Great spot, but impossible to enter with our 7,3 m camper.

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By far the most beautiful place in the whole El Calafate region to camp for free!

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beautiful place. view on the perito moreno And wonderful mountains. free.
the cerro Cristal hike is quite hard but doable, with an Amazing view on the top.

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Just an updated agreement with previous descriptions/comments. VERY GOOD camping location!!!!

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Awesome spot. Totally quiet when we came on a Friday. Fire pits and a pit toilet. Free!

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Asked the ranger and he said this was the only free place to stay in the park. We enjoyed a peaceful night here and it has great views of the mountains and Lago Roca. It took us 1 hour in a wicked camper van once the road turns to gravel. If you go to Perito Moreno during the day and camp here at night, you should be able to get a stamp from the ranger at the campground and not have to pay the entrance fee on day 2 to Perito Moreno. It worked for us but it was slightly confusing so make sure you ask the ranger if you have any questions on how it works. It has pit toilets and fire pits but you do need to bring your own wood and not gather wood from there.

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As mentioned, plenty of space with good wind shelter. As usual, in the week-end, locals gather and make plenty of noise until 3 or 4 AM...

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nice campground with many trees which are good protection again the wind. and it was sooo windy this night !
the negative point is that the guardaparque was not here yesterday evening. we just have seen his girlfriend who were very friendly. she've said that he will come later but we didn't see him. and the house was close i' the morning (between 10 and 10.30). so we didn't have our stamp. we hope that it won't be a problem for the 2nd entrance in the national park...

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Nice spot. We spent two nights there. Plenty of places to choose including well windprotected ones. If you visited glacier and sleep here you are allowed to reenter next day without being charged (get a stamp from ranger on your ticket). Firepits are present but wood collecting is forbidden here.

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Beautiful setting with great views across the lake and mountains beyond. No firewood and you aren't meant to gather any. We only found two chemical toilets and one was locked up out of use so it is a trek. Other travellers have been defecating around the site given the evidence of toilet paper near the bushes. The site was not busy and has a selection of sheltered and open pitches. There is non-potable water in drums with a tap.

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Great place! We could stay comletely wind covered behind trees with our pop up roof. Pit toilets are dirty. Every site has a fireplace. Free!

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Very nice free campground with a lot of space and a fantastic view to the mountains and the glaciers! Very quiet, even on a friday night!
Pit toilets are very clean. Lots of firepits, but you need to bring your one fire wood.
We stayed for two nights. Very very recommended!

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Si ustedes han visitado el glaciar Perito Moreno y el mismo día pernoctan en este camping libre que pertenece al parque nacional los glaciares, pueden volver, al día siguiente, a visitar el glaciar Perito Moreno, solo necesitan que el guarparques del camping les selle los tíquets del día anterior.

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Great place. Lots of privacy as the places are quite big. Shade and windprotection place 38 on top with wonderful view. Clean chemical toilets. Wonderful lookout (5 min. to go) with bench and explanation which peak you see (incl. Perito Moreno Glaciar) Highly recommended.

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Makes our top 10 in South America, beautiful location, seems sheltered here when windy elsewhere. Long drop toilets in various states of cleanliness. Ranger really helpful and very knowledgeable about the resident wildlife.

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Free, spacious, nice location overlooking lake, with mountain view. Outhouse as clean as an outhouse can be, lots of trees for some privacy and wind shelter. BBQ pits. Unfortunately locals tend to ignore the „no music“ sign boards...

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Wonderful place! Gravel road is good now - as good as a gravel road can be. In addition to all the other comments: there is a mirador just opposite the camp 5 minutes up the hill with view to the glacier.

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The best free camping we've been to. View on lake and mountains is absolutely spectacular. Nice fire pits and pit toilets. What else. Can be windy but lots of vegetation to hide behind.

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Great free camping with fantastic views. Some other overlanders when we were there. Great to arrive early and enjoy the surroundings though it got a bit windy later in the evening. Would definitely recommend driving up here from Calafate.

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Very nice free campsite in the park. A lot of spaces with many fire places. beautiful view on the lake and partly on Perito Moreno. Some toilets along the path. A little bit windy, but there are many trees. And very close of the Cerro Cristal.

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Awesome free camping overlooking the lake, mountains, and glacier.
Nice sites for tents and rigs on the grassy patches, or in the trees. Pit toilets, and fire stands to use.
Spectacular views. 45km outside El Calafate on the dirt road.

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One of the best !! We absolutely loved this camp.. Bring lots of vino and meat to asado - you will want to stay at least 2 days. Numerous sites, all with stunning views over the lake and towards mountains. We were here over Easter and there was barely anyone else around. Definitely do the hike up Cerro Cristal, classed as 'medium' but was a bit of a scramble to the top. Took us 6 hours return.

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Great free spot. Firepits around and great view. Lake wasn't too cold for a swim.

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Wonderful spot with firepits in the park. empty when i was here

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Very nice and clean place. Pit toilets also clean. 4°C in the night but no wind. Look where you park to avoid noise from locals. You can see the glacier in the far.

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Very nice place. Lots of wind shelters and fire spit. We loved the place 23, our rooftop could fit in the trees. :) and if you like amazing view, do the hike : cerro cristales, where you can see perito moreno and torres del paine (windy walk, check the weather before).

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Great spot,plenty of space. Love it!

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very nice free camping area with wind protection. But the 30 km road is a very bad gravel and washboard piste but worth to go.

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Excellent spot (nr 5). No wind, trees, shade and sunshine. Without lake view but close walk to it. Stayed 2 nights.

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Beautiful and tranquil. Site 24 is level and has views plus some shelter from wind, not as much as inner sites but we wanted the view.

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This place is recommended by tourist info and glacier tour companies. As other reviews, very good free camping area.

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Great spot. Not too much wind. Not many sites are level though. Only one other site occupied while we were here on a Wednesday. Toilets just hole in the ground. Pack out all garbage as there are no trash cans. Bring wood from Calafate - signs say not to burn wood here. We camped in number 23, the most level we could find with good wind protection and nice views. Road is rough and slow. Free.

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Very nice camping site, awesome views! We were the only ones, took spot 19. Made a fire with the wood we could find. Had shelter from the wind.

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Still free, a local spot. Road from glacier entrance takes about an hour and is rough in spots. Avoid nice weather weekends in the summer as it will be full of noisy locals. Very nice spot, especially being free. Lake trout abound so bring the fishing gear, a license can be bought at the pay campground 2km away or in calafate. Bring firewood from calafate or other areas, none is available here but a fire in the fire pits with windblocks and lake views make for a nice evening.

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Lovely spot in the national park. Ranger came past to register us. We stayed 2 nights and enjoyed great views of the lake and mountains. Got very windy but there are plenty of wind breaks. For open pit toilets (inside porta pottys) they were surprisingly clean and smell free. Well worth the 30km drive out (dirt road) for the tranquillity and a break from the crowds.

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There are a number of pit toilets for public use (individual cabinets of the type that you find on construction sites). Over the weekend the locals from El Calafate like to come here and have gatherings with the usual side effects (music, shouting, driving round the camp) but it was bearable.

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Contrary to a previous post, dogs are not allowed here.

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The2Dutch. Very, very Nice place, we stay here for one night and a full day. Nice walks and also Some protection against the strong cold wind.

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Great spot! You can get your park ticket stamped and signed at the ranger station just at the camp entrance to allow for a 2nd free day in the park.

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Lovely camping spot with views of the lake and mountains. No facilities other than fire pit. Free.

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This place is amazing! The views are fantastic. It is a basic campsite, large sites, fire pits, some with table and chairs, porter loos scattered throughout the campsite. Free

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A beautiful campground right on the lake. It was super warm (80 F) and calm when we were here and we even jumped into the lake! Sites are simple but very large. Fire pits, tables, and views of the lake with lots of space between them. Grim pit toilets on site. We spent 3 nights at camp site 18. Free!! Dogs allowed on leash.

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One of the nicest lake camps we ever stayed. Nr. 18 has a great view of the lake and the surrounding mountains. Somtimes very windy. Good fishing.

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30km to Perito Moreno. Nice natural campsite area (basic facilities only, no toilet)

Price:free

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No facilities. Fires are allowed but you must bring wood from off site. We were the only ones here on a weekday. You can hike up Cerro Cristal south of the campground. The trail starts down the road. We stayed here in place of the Perito Moreno Glacier parking lot as we hear they no longer allow campers.

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