Visitor Center - El Chalten | Informal Campsite

Argentina

Details

Verified:
14 days ago
Altitude:
405.8 masl
Website:
None
Contributor:
susanne.olsthoorn

Amenities

Electricity:
No
Wifi:
No
Kitchen:
No
Restaurant:
No
Showers:
No
Water:
Yes
Toilets:
No
Big Rig Friendly:
Yes
Tent Friendly:
No
Pet Friendly:
No

Something not right?

Description

No tents. Big parking lot with grassy areas across the street from park Office Visitor Centre. Just before you enter town, you will see a sign with motorhome parking on your right hand. Only place in town where it is free and allowed to stay overnight that we could find. Both trailhead parking lots now have a no motorhome sign. Good views and reasonably wind protected.
Beware of mice - we got one inside the car and heard of multiple people getting them here.

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Didn't have a problem staying here with a campervan without toilet. The ranger at the center told us we could stay here.

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Juste avant l’entrée de la ville.
En face de la maison des guides.
Parking avec une très belle vue. Beaucoup de place, adapté à tous types de véhicules. Il y a des tables de picnic, des toilettes sèches et une borne de recharge solaire.

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Good place to stay. Still free.

My wife picked up a leveling rock in the parking lot. Poop under it. Tons of tp in the bushes. Park authority asked if we had a toilet. Yes. If this place keeps getting trashed like this it likely won’t remain open.

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Nice view on the mountains on a clear day, very dusty on a dry and windy day. No tents allowed, this was enforced one day, another day it wasn't... Pit toilet, slow and unreliable Claro signal, but quiet and safe!

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Big parking area with a lot of vans/motorhomes. Some people arrive vey late, some people leave very early, so you can wake up from that noise.

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Big gravel parking. Might get very windy so dust will be flying all around. Pit toilet. Cell service (claro) works randomly even if it shows full signal and 4g but it is mostly useless for anything beyond Whatsapp. Free spot.

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There is no running water and no electricity but a lot toilet. Place seems huge and offers enough space for motorhomes.

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5 nuits passées sur le parking de l’autre côté du Visitor Center. L’endroit est très calme même en étant en bord de route.

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Stayed one night before the Laguna the los Tres hike. Happy find a “hole-in-the-ground” outdoor toilet in the bushes just by the parking lot (direction towards the lake). Great for one night, but veeeery busy during peak season

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In front of the Visitor Center - Parque Nacional Los Glaciares, there is a place to spot a parking. Only allow Motorhome or Trailers. There is no services at all. Nice views. Water in the Visitor Center.

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Ficamos de carro aqui 3 dias ! perfeito! não tem infraestrutura. apenas carregandores de celular complica solar e um sanitário 🚻 mal cheiroso. Mas é tranquilo e seguros! Pessoas de vários países !

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2 easy nights here. quiet. no traffic on the road during the night. great view on the Fitzz

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Best place to stay in El Chalten, a lot of space, quiet and close to the visitor center and some treks. You can walk to the village in 10 minutes. We spent 4 nights here.

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stayed here 2 night's. big area across from the tourist office with bathrooms and water. 10 min walk into town. nice and quiet, no mice, just a very happy bird trying to get through our windscreen to our fruit left on the dash. great views.

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Really good parking lot to spend few nights. Some grass with pique-nique table, dry toilet. Big rig friendly and tent not allowed.
4G Claro (but very slow as everywhere).
IG: on.vagabonde

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Only spot available in El Chaltén to spend a night with a van / motor home / camping car.
Great view if no cloud and low traffic after 10:00pm.
Water available if you cross the street to the visitor center.

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Wide place accessible for free. Toilet available. Windy sometimes

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many motorhomes, quiet night, no problems. Water across the street at the national park info center. And we didn’t see any mice!

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Ruhiger Platz. Siehe Einträge vorher. ?????????????

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Stellplatz ohne Service. Am Busbahnhof ist ein neuer Stellplatz mit Ver- und Entsorgung.

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parking at the entrance of El Chalten in front of the guardaparques house. there are no camping signs, but they are for tents. parking is authorized for motorhomes and free. there are picnic tables available. there is a water tap on the side of the house of the guardaparques which has a kind of small museum and is open all day.

parking à l’entrée de El Chalten en face de la maison des guardaparques. il y a des panneaux d’interdiction de camper, mais ils s’adressent aux tentes. le stationnement est autorisé pour les camping-cars et gratuit. il y a des tables de pique-nique à disposition . il y a un robinet d’eau du côté de la maison des guardaparques qui possède une sorte de petit musée et est ouvert toute la journée.

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stayed here our first night in El chalten before heading off on our huemul circuit 3 night hike. quiet night with a few other campers. Pit toilet. Preferred free campervan area by bus station for our other nights as had potable water, bins, electricity.

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We spend 10 days onthis parking. A lot of wind and sand, but nice views. On the last day we were woken up by mice eating our food inside the car. We got out and saw there are a lot of mice everywhere, so really be careful not to get them into your vehicles, it's a nightmare.

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2 nuits ici ! Bon spot pour la vue, de nombreux camping-car, idéal pour faire des connaissances !

2 noches aqui ! Muchos motorhomes, ideal para conocer a personas !

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Staying here the end of February for two nights, three days it was not so busy anymore, so you could easily arrive late in the night and still find a spot to park your car. We expected a crowded and loud place, but although there were about 20-30 vehicles everyone was very quiet and we had two very good nights. El Chaltén is a very windy town though, so the second day/night we even felt like being on a ship inside the car. Couldn’t open the doors, all sand will blow inside and people next to us took down their rooftop to go somewhere else, so be aware of that. Pit toilet was fine, better have everything together instead of all the bushes full of it (lots of people only use the bushes as a toilet..). Toilet and water tap (outside) at the visitor center were easy to use! We liked this place. One car got creative and because of the ‘no tent’ sign, they set up their tent in the back of the pick up. Haha

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THE place to be in El Chalten. Bit off the city but in 5min walking, you are in the center

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stayed there as everyone. good place with free toilets

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We spent there 5nights with camper without problem. Nice view, close to the town ( 3min walk). Mostly full around 17:00 but the late ones parking at the other side in the visitor infos' side. Toilet in the center, potable water also outside at the visitor center side.

No tents allowed! The rangers didn't let them stay 🤷

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Maybe we were unlucky that night, but we were pretty much blown away with our rooftop tent. Couldn't sleep because of the huge wind. Sitting outside during the day was not possible either, because of all the sand the wind blew around, you were sandblasted. The center was open from 9 to 5 to go to the toilet.

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Overlanders’ central in El Chalten. As described, still free. You’re in between other campers so felt very safe (also to leave the car and go into town - walking distance). Thanks to some big rigs we were able to find very good wind protection for our pop-up roof. Very quiet at night. There is indeed a pit toilet, but you can also walk to the visitor center to use their (modern) toilets during opening hours (close at 17h).

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This is an extremely popular spot. You’ll see all kinds of rigs from across the world here. Spots can run out so it’s necessary to show up early to get a spot. Unfortunately, there’s one pit toilet and with all of the overlanders around there’s a lot of use of bushes as well, which unfortunately means both human waste and quite a bit of paper waste around.

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Área com bom espaço na entrada de El Cháten, muitos RVs pernoitam aqui. Não se pode despejar água servida. Banheiro tipo fossa. Água potável do outro lado da rua na frente do Centro de Visitantes.

Area with good space at the entrance of El Cháten, many RVs overnight here. You can not dump water served. Bathroom type fossa. Drinking water across the street in front of the visitors center.

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a crowded place near the town. behind the busstation we could empty our chemical toilet. water was available at the visitor centre.

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Just before you enter town, on your right is this open space where rigs of all sizes can come and park for the night- FREE. There is a Sticky pit toilet for what its worth but this place has a great view of the many pointy peaks and glaciers. Space is first come first serve and fills up fast in the evening when everyone returns from their day trips out hiking.

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Free parking opposite of the visitor centre. You can park there during doing your hikes/ trekkings and also sleep in the car. The visitor center has toilets and tap water.

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Really nice spot with beautiful view of Fitz Roy and cerro Torro. Close to a water tap (at the welcome center). Inside this building you can also use the toilet during opening hours. There is some shelter from the wind because the place is surrounded by trees.

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Stayed here for one night when we arrived to El Chalten. Lots of rigs of all sizes and it’s well protected from the wind. No toilet but you can get water across the road at the visitors centre.

Seems like it’s the only free place to camp in El Chalten but it’s a nice area full of like-minded people. It was busy when we were here early December so could possibly be quite full in full high season.

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as far as WE See the only place to Spende the night in a Camper Van in this town. excellent spot great View on the Mountains and a little Toilette to drop yours. other side of the street free Water.

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Good place for the night, If its clear you have a great look in FitzRoy. Infopoint was still closed at 10:00 am, should bei Open at 09:00.... 😔

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We tried to sleep in the town square, but we were directed to that area. We spent two peaceful nights here. It has partial wind protection, a toilet (cesspool style), tables and an amazing sunset view at Fitz Roy. No fires.

Tentamos dormir na praça da cidade, porém, nos encaminharam para essa área.Passamos duas noite tranquilas aqui. Tem proteção parcial do vento, um banheiro (estilo fossa), mesas e uma incrível vista do por do sol no Fitz Roy. Proibido fazer fogueira.

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we spent 3 nights here. perfect place and quiet at night
all the people are friendly

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Good place, as described.
Lot of people, but still quiet, no wind and view on the Fitz Roy.

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The 'toilet' consists of a hole, level with the floor. No seat. You must have good balance to squat and use it. Close your eyes: rather disgusting looking. The availability of toilets is a dire situation in El Chelten and it looks like most people are doing their 'job' in the bushes. Otherwise, a nice quiet free place to park.

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Uno-home. Após o único YPF da vila. Para pernoite de motorhomes apenas. Não permite acampar. Não tem estrutura alguma. Apenas algumas mesinhas e cadeiras de madeira e água potável no outro lado da rua no Visitor Center. Tem uma bela vista do Fitz Roy.

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Very nice place! Slept there for two nights and did was a great spot!

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Great place to spend the night in El Chalten. Close to everything, only legal place. Beautiful views on FitzRoy. Make sure that on a clear day your alarm goes around sunrise to see also from here the red mountain! Let’s keep this place clean!

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stayed here for 3 nights.
as others have stated;
great views of Fitz Roy, big area that fits a lot of campers, wind protection and FREE.
try to get there before 5pm for the best spots.

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just to keep it clean it's allow the sleep in a car but not in a tent. seems like rooftents are okay but tents of the ground are not. don't know the difference
but also if you leave early I think no-one will notice

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Perfect, quiet and free! As described bevor. in the evening the lot is filling up. We got only at night a 2G Signal.

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Very nice place to spend the night, quiet and secure. Tables to eat and nice view of the Fitz Roy ! We spent 3 nights there, we loved it !

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Slept here for a last night before heading to El Calafate. This parking is really nice, good atmosphere between campers and traveller’s. The water is good and you can have WiFi at the park office or at the beginning of the street in the center just after the bridge.

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Perfect place when visiting El Chalten, walking distance to town but not too close to bother the locals! As described. We were with around 20-25 campervans last night 😅. There is a free pit toilet available on the grassy area (a little bit further from the parking area but still really close- look for a small green shed).

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This parking is cool. We stayed here 2 weeks in total (but we also slept in the free camping inside the national park) there is no problem to let the car during your hike. We did the Huemul and also 3 days more outside and nothing happened. There are a lot of campers around here. That’s safe.

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This place is quite good as it can contain a lot of motorhomes.
Quite quiet at night, get protected from wind by trees or big rigs, toilet also quite clean .
Great view on the Fitz Roy if weather is good.

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WARNING: we filled up our drinking water from the tap outside the visitor centre and 3 days later we noticed that loads of algae had grown in our tanks. Thankfully we didn't get ill and might be harmless if you drink straight away but wouldn't recommend storage.

Apart from that, good free place to park up for el chalten with great views of the Fitz Roy on a clear day.

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Dogs are not allowed here. There is wild life (like armadillo/pelón) and it’s part of the NP. We were warned but still could stay one night. Use the wild camp by the river also in IOverlander.

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Convenient, free. A bit full this time of the year, but still ok. We didn‘t have much wind, and the sheltered options are a bit rare, especially for roof-top-tents. Tourist info is very helpful. Their toilets are clean (9-17h).

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We stayed here for 3 nights. its exactly as described previously. very good place to stay with your camper van. on walking distance of town and all hikes. El chalten is a charming little village with beautyfull view on the mountain range Fitz Roy. we did the trail to tres lagos. 10 km one way and the last km very steep climb 750 m. but really beautifull view. dont stop to early on left side of lake is another rocky hill, climb up for enother surprise.

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Stayed here for 3 nights. No issues, a lot of other people camping as well. Tap water near Visitors Center, green toilet little bit hidden on in the end of parking lot.

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We spent a good night here, refilled our water tank the next day at the visitors center. Did not find the pit toilet.

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nuit calme ,terrain correct
table de pic nic a disposition.

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nice place to stay. easy access, lots of flat space

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I FOUND A LOST 8GB SD CARD HERE. Please contact me ([email protected]) if you think it's yours. --- I was here for one night. Didn't use the bathrooms, simply parked there and slept inside the car. No issues and really quiet place, only a few cars passing in the road.

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We stayed for one night. It was quite and with some wind shelter due to the trees. Watch out for the mice - one came to visit us in our camper at night, so almost no sleep for us!

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We stayed here two nights. No wind. Very dark place.

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Stayed here for one night, leveled grassy area with no facilities at all. Visible from the road. No cars passing by after 9pm. Not much more to say.

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Peaceful place to stay for the night. Little armadillo lives here too. Close to town centre and with potable water at the tap outside the visitor centre. We stayed 4 nights

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We stayed there four nights. No issues at all. Water available outside of visitor centre (though water not completely clear). The toilets in the visitor centre were closed quite often due to "service". However there is a (hidden, very clean) latrina next to the parking area, closer to the river. Please keep latrina and parking area clean, so it will be allowed to camp there also in the future.

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Camping with tents are forbidden. We stayed here 3 night was perfect. Lots of overlanders but enough space. Use the latrine and not the small forest. 2 benches for lunch. Possible to hang clothes an a rope on the trees. Potable water at the visitorcentre on the opposite side.

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We spend 3 nights at this camping. We also tried the other one near the river but there was to much wind. The place is safe and you meet a lot of other hikers. Just in front of the ranger station there is a water tap to fill up. Good place, good vibes.

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Stayed here 2 nights and it was excellent. We camped on the far south end and it was pretty protected from the wind and road noise. A five minute walk to water at the park HQ. They also have flush toilets there and there is a pit toilet at the camp site. It has a perfect view of Fitz Roy so be sure to wake up early and catch sunrise!

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Best place with own motorhome in el chaten. Many other overlanders here.

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Nice place to stay for free in El Chaltén. We came here in our first and last night. Some minutes by feet from the village. Trails are starting from the visitor centre.

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Good spot but very windy on our night which made sleeping in our roof tent almost impossible.

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Appears to be the only free place to camp with a vehicle, thus it was quite busy. We had a clear morning, which provided a gorgeous sunrise with the sun reflecting off of Fitz Roy. Definitely worth the 6.30 am alarm.

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Free flat spot with some wind protection. Right next to road & busy with lots of rental campers, but was quite on the windy rainy night we stayed. After walking back from one of the Cervezaria late at night we did get to see an Armadillo up close.

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A few others were here with us. Some wind at times. Movistar signal. Lots of room. Short walk to town.

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Very busy parking lot for motor homes and vans. Smelly long drop but it works. We probably got the last spot available parking in at about 10pm.

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Good place to stay some days as described. Many other overlanders ☺.

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PLEASE do not empty you chemical toilet into the natural pit toilet!!

it's a decent place where we stayed for two weeks I go climbing hiking, where you can get some rest and meet nice people.

please help in protecting nature and don't dump your chemicals there.

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We stayed here for a couple nights while we explored El Chalten. It had one pit toilet that you could use when the park visitor center was not open. A busy place with many overlanders there since it is the one free spot in town to park per the park ranger we talked to. Good views and there is a water spigot to fill up water at the ranger station across the street from the parking area. We also had the bonus of seeing an armadillo here too!

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Good place to camp, most things have already been said. Pit toilet on site and proper toilet across the road in the visitor center (only during opening hours). There is also a water tap next to the visitor center with what they said to be potable water. We filled a water bottle and had some algae in it. So better filter it if you have the option. It did taste fine though.

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Good option of free camp in El Chaltén.
A few Overlanders when we were there.
No amenities and close to the road but pretty quiet during the night.
Next to the bus station to get some free WiFi (around 1km).
Close to the visitor center to get some information (weather, hiking,...)

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Nice place. Clean toilet (pit). Absolutely no cover from the road. But farely protected from the wind. Ground is not really leveled. Overall, good place

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The place is nice (only vehicles allowed) but we had the worse experience of our trip here, reason being: mice! The first night we heard noises and found traces of it inside the RV, but the second night was like being under attack: we saw them inside, on the floor, outside just waiting an opportunity to enter... not sure if it was due to too much rain, but those animals were like crazy.

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all comments below are correct. At least 8 other overlanders overnight. Definately the busiest place we have seen at this trip. perfect view from truck towards mount Fitzroy. (If not in the clouds)

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Spent two nice nights here
Allowed to park here
Lots of vans even off season
Spotted a tatu on the grass !

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For vehicles only. Flat and spacious. Really popular among overlanders. Great view but no wind protection.

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A pleasant and secure place to stay for some night. The grass field rather larger and offers enough space for many vehicles. Furthermore, you can use the toilets of the Visitor Center across the road during the opening times. In addition, there is also a pit toilet in the grove next to the parking area. Although there are usually some other motorhomes, the place is rather quiet during the night. Also worth mentioning, is the faucet with potable water at the Visitor Center.

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we stayed here for nights...its a flat good place...toiletts in turist offiv or the green Woodhouse.

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We stayed 4 nights here. Nice place with picknick tables. There is a new clean pit-toilet in the back of the parking.

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very nice parking for campervan or motorhomes. Now they've added latrines (toilets), like, just a hole in the ground with a roof and 4 walls.
Very nice view on the Fitz roy (for your campervan, not from toilets).
It's exposed to the wind, with a noise from city'generators. There is a tap to fullfill your containers close to park office (just across the road), and clean toilets inside park office.
no WiFi, no shower, no electricity.

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Great place for a few nights, You've got an even better view of the mountains than those in town.

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Good free option to camp. Lots of other overlanders. We were lucky it wasn’t windy when we camped here. Very open area and probably not suitable for roof top tents on very windy days. Potable water spigot across the road next to the park’s visitor center.

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Free camping in large dirt parking across the road from the visitor center. Some picnic tables nearby. No wind protection for rigs but could get closer to the small trees in a tent. Potable water near the visitor center and toilets inside. We camped here and then drove to the trailhead in the morning to hike. Trails fill up with bus loads of tourists so we recommend starting early.

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Spent two nights here. Nothing special but free camping in parking lot and you can use information centre washrooms during open hours. Good glacier water tap for drinking water at info centre.

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Great views of Fitzroy and convenient for treks from rangers office. Recommended.

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good place with awesome view of Fitzroy. all nice and quiet. Currently clean, so make sure it stays this way!

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Good place for one or two nights and good starting point for the hikes. Please respect the rules! Use the toilet in the visitor center (if possible) or walk 5 minutes to the bus terminal (but please don‘t leave your traces in the area!), and don‘t do the dishes by the drinking water tap in front of the visitor center! It‘s the only free place for overlanders - help to keep this place open!

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Big grassy area which is the only place where motorhomes are officially allowed to park around the town, directly across from the Visitor's Information Center. Great view of Fitz Roy and the mountains, quiet even though it's near the road. Usually a few other motorhomes around. No facilities. No tent camping allowed. Only gas stoves for fire.

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Yes this is the official and free motorhome parking and camping spot in El Chalten. Tonnes of grassy and gravel level spots. Five minute walk to town and the visitor centre is right across the road and has tonnes of info on all the trails. Also on a clear day you have perfect view of the whole Fitzroy mountain range.

Lots of vans without toilets use the bushes for toilet and we saw the ranger having to go around and pick up everyone's mess so bury or bring yours with you.

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Big parking lot with grassy areas across the street from park Office visitor centre. Just before you enter town you See a sign with motorhome parking on your right hand. No facilities but you can use the toilet at park Office during opening hours. Only place in town where it is free and allowed to stay over night that we could find. Both trail-head parkings now have a no motorhome sign. Good views and reasonably wind protected.

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