El Pilar Libre Parking Lot | Informal Campsite

February 4th, 2023 by It's not a slow car, it's a fast house

This place is permanently closed.

January 13th, 2023 by tanguy.adriaenssen

The Gte is very much padlocked having spoken to the locals about going hiking from there they said that’s no longer an option. Only option now is to start at Rio Eléctrico a bit further up the road… so camping there is most definitely not an option!

December 19th, 2019 by Mark_and_Nadine

The gate is open now. There's a no camping sign. If you're there at sunrise you might have a beautiful view of the mountains.

October 21st, 2019 by adventureisupthere.com

Still closed, we parked 1km before and had no problem with our van.

May 7th, 2018 by gawad

Entrance road closed with wooden gate , probably due to off season

February 22nd, 2018 by niuniu1950

Llegamos ayer por la tarde y nos hemos quedado a dormir en el parquing. Esta mañana hemos ido al mirador de las piedras blancas 10.360 km ida/vuelta, muy poco desnivel y muy fácil de hacer.
Normalmente la gente toma un transfer (bus) a El Chalten hasta la Hostaria El Pilar y recorre todo el trayecto y baja por la cara sur hacia la ciudad. Mirador Piedras Blancas - camping y El Chalten. Trayecto fácil

February 2nd, 2017 by gaetheo.tdm

We stayed there 2 nights and nobody told us anything. Very quiet. We were alone ! We went for the trek to the Fitz Roy - Laguna Los Tres from here. It's easier and only 8.5 km instead of 10km. And you can see the glaciar Piedras Blancas.
We had no problem with our motorhome staying in the parking all day.

October 30th, 2016 by Live.Travel.Play.

Signs now say: daytime parking only

February 15th, 2016 by biascampos

Beautiful spot, NOT SAFE though...We spend three days here until someone broke into our car while we were hiking and took all the money we had. Don't be naive like me...be smart!!!

February 10th, 2016 by mit-eigenen-augen.blogspot.de

We parked 200m before the actual parking lot in a pull out on the right.that was private, quiet and a little more wind protected with some grass next to the car. We found that was a much better option than in the dirt lot. The Trail to laguna de los tres is much nicer from chaitén than from here. You have more spectacular views in fitzroy on the Way to the sendero, a waterfall and the beautiful valley. On this Trail You can see a nice glacier and this Trail is shorter than the one from town. From here it takes 2:15 hours one way if you are fit (9.3km)

February 7th, 2016 by southofseattle.wordpress.com

Nice free spot. We stayed two nights in our pop-top tent. All the other cars cleared out by 9pm or so. Tour buses started dropping people off at 8am, but wasn't a problem. We left like we had plenty of privacy. This seems liked a much better option than paid camp grounds in town and the free parking lot at the other trail head on the north end of town.

December 28th, 2015 by nonurbia

A fairly big parking area quite a bit off the regular road. Surrounded by bushes and low trees. We were lucky to not have any winds in these areas end of December. Beautiful mountain views. No one at night; lots of hiking groups in the morning. This stretch of road was already past the national park boundaries. Inside the park, which you have to drive through to get here, there are lots of "no dogs" signs because of a protected deer kind. There was a dog roaming around this parking lot and no signs. We just kept ours on the leash. After about half an hour hike you're technically back in the park. Slightly confusing boundaries. It's free parking in the lot and nothing was prohibiting camping or overnight stays. Had a great night here. Recommended!

December 20th, 2015 by earthroamers

Camped here on a Saturday night to avoid the noise from the busy campsites. Very quiet and if the skies are clear great views to Fitz Roy. Good location as you can just lock up and go out on the beautiful mirador hike which is an easy two and a half hour return and if you are lucky like we were we saw great clear views of Fitz Roy peak.

February 2nd, 2015 by Song of the Road

A second and much less crowded trailhead to Lago de los Tres starts here at El Pilar and we camped in the free parking area. This area has trees so it's a bit protected from the wind but can still have strong gusts from time to time. We slept great here. You can see Fitz Roy from parking area. Not much privacy during day but very quite at night. Probably best for campers with bathroom and indoor cooking/ living space.