Day 1: Welcome to Bariloche!
Your cycling guides will pick you up in the Bariloche airport and show you a bit of our beautiful town. San Carlos de Bariloche, the “South American Switzerland”, is a beautiful spot to start your South American mountain biking vacation! This mountain town is located on the shore of the huge Nahuel Huapi Lake, and it is no wonder that Argentina declared the surrounding area it’s first national park, the Nahuel Huapi National Park. Briefing of the trip with the whole group. Tonight we’ll enjoy a welcome dinner at a local parrilla, grill/BBQ, with authentic asado, grilled steak, and great Argentinian wine.
Night in a cozy hosteria (3 stars).
Day 2: Green Farms and Gaucho Villages
A scenic 80 km drive from Bariloche takes us to the Manso River. This majestic river starts from the largest glacier on Mount Tronador and travels all the way to the Pacific Ocean on the Chilean side of the Andes Mountains. Starting at a hanging bridge, we start cycling along a hilly single track trail. Along the way we’ll cross little creeks, pass local farms and gaucho ranches, and come almost to the border of Chile and Argentina.
After 20 km single track biking we’ll come to another suspension bridge that crosses the Rio Manso. Here we’ll relax by the river and enjoy a nice lunch before riding back along the river on a gravel road back to our van. A little snack and then back to Bariloche!
Night in same hosteria.
Total Ride: 20 km single track + 25 gravel road with optional van support.
Day 3: Exploring the Bariloche Area
Today, your cycling guide will take you mountain biking through the outskirts of Bariloche. Climb up to the “Balcony of Gutierrez”, cycling 5 km uphill for an hour and a half, pass through the Villa Catedral Ski Resort.
Enjoy the great views of the huge Lake Gutierrez and the Nahuel Huapi National Park before heading down 6 km on asphalt and gravel roads biking. Another 10 km on a scenic gravel backroad cycling takes us all the way to Colonia Suiza, a quaint farm village established by Swiss settlers in the late 1800s.
Night in Hotel (3 stars)
Total Ride: 30 km cycle with 400 mt elevation gain.
Day 4: Lake Crossings to Chile
Early in the morning we depart Bariloche to Puerto Pañuelo on Llao Llao Peninsula, near Bariloche. We will be taking our first boat of the day on Lake Nahuel Huapi to get to Puerto Blest. This is an hour to hour and a half scenic ride, and once in Puerto Blest we will bike 3 km to Lake Frias, which is a emerald lake fed by a river of glacier milk. Another 20 minutes boat across Lago Frias with an excellent view of Mt Tronador (3554 mts), the highest peak of the area with the glacier drains into this lake. Once we arrive in Puerto Frias, your cycling guide will take you 27 km mountain biking on a gravel road to Peulla, a little Chilean village where we will do customs. Next, a boat cruising across Lake Todos los Santos for less than 2 hours to arrive in Petrohue, Chile. Here we have a scenic drive through the Vicente Pérez Rosales National Park to the perfectly conic-shaped Volcan Osorno. At 1600 meters above sea level we come to Refugio Osorno, a mountain hut with an incredible view.
Night in Volcano Osorno Mountain Hut.
Total Ride: 35 km cycle with 400 mt elevation gain.
Day 5: Descent of Volcan Osorno
Wake up on Volcano Osorno at the base of the snow line with the amazing view of the huge Lago Llanquihue, one of the largest natural lakes in South America. After a good breakfast, we ride 17 km down the volcano to the lake. From the base of the volcano, your mountain biking guide will take you from Ensenada to the town of Ralun or Cochamo.
Cycling beside the Petrohue River we reach the Pacific Ocean at the Seno de Reloncaví. In the afternoon, your guide will drive you to Puerto Varas. This Chilean city is on the shore of Lago Llanquihue, and it has a lot of European architecture and cuisine due to German immigrants that settled this area in the 1800s. Have a tour of Puerto Varas, and we’ll stay the night here.
Night in hotel (3 stars).
Total Ride: 55 km cycle with 300 mt elevation gain. Mostly flat terrain with gentle hills.
Day 6: High Andean Pass through the Andes to Argentina
A a scenic drive through the green Chilean countryside takes us from Puerto Varas 200 km north. Along the drive, we’ll pass several waterfalls, drive through a temperate rainforest, and have views of 4 different volcanoes in Patagonia’s Ring of Fire.
We’ll take the van to the top of to Paso Puyehue, an Andean pass on the border of Argentina and Chile. Once the guide has driven to the highest point of the pass, and we’ve crossed the border, we start our descent cycling all the way to Villa La Angostura on an asphalt road. Villa La Angostura is a pretty little ski village surrounded by national park.
Night in Hotel (3 stars).
Total Ride: 50 km cycle with 400 mt elevation gain. 50% downhill.
Day 7: Colorful Trees of the Arrayanes National Forrest
Today, your cycling guide will take you on the mountain bikes right from the little town of Villa La Angostura to the nearby Arrayanes National Forrest. We’ll ride to the tip of the Peninsula de Quetrihue which reaches into the Nahuel Huapi Lake. This peninsula is vegetated by Arrayanes trees, family of Nothofagus trees with a very beautiful orange bark. Your guide will take you on a fun single track trail for a relaxed day with beautiful Patagonian scenery.
Drive back to Bariloche. Good bye dinner.
Night in Hotel (3 stars).
Total Ride: 24 km cycle with 50 mt elevation gain.
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