Lago Cardiel

North of Tres Lagos [1], RN 40 winds north over the Meseta Cascajosa before coming within sight of Lago Cardiel, a deep interior drainage lake that’s a bellwether for ongoing climate-change studies. It also enjoys a certain popularity for fishing, but it’s so remote that there’s little competition.

On the west side of the highway, 22 kilometers south of the RP 29 junction to Gobernador Gregores [2], Estancia La Siberia (tel. 02966/426972 in Río Gallegos, www.lasiberia.8k.com [3]) is the casual doppelgänger of the stereotypical tourist estancia. With little livestock, set among an aging orchard of apricot, cherry, pear, and plum trees, it’s open October–mid-April and rents rooms for US$19 pp in hostel-style accommodations, US$40–66 pp with private baths and hot showers; inexpensive camping (US$5.50 pp) makes it popular with cyclists.