Driving the Seven Lakes Route From San Carlos de Bariloche to San Martin de Los Andes

The Seven Lakes Route, or La Ruta de Los Siete Lagos, is a must for any traveller coming to Bariloche and its surrounding areas.

But as always, driving it can seem like a rather daunting prospect. It certainly was for me, however, renting a car gives you the freedom to fully enjoy this stunning part of the world at your own pace.

This blog post is purely my own experience, and you'll find plenty of other (and better written) posts on this topic, but for anyone who's reading this, I hope it's useful to you!

Hiring the car

We used Hertz for our hire car. The easiest way to do this is to reserve beforehand using the website. The pickup location from the centre of Bariloche is at the corner of Ada Maria Elflein Street and Villegas Street. The car we booked was just a normal hatchback (Nissan I think...), and was ideal for the road.

From there, we made our way to 12 de Octubre Street, which takes you out of Bariloche and eventually joins La Ruta 40 (the main road all the way to San Martin de Los Andes).

Villa La Angostura

Villa La Angostura is the first main stop along the route, and really marks the start of La Ruta de Los Siete Lagos.

It's around an hour from Bariloche and is ideal to stop for a snack or lunch. The main road is full of cafes and restaurants, but if you'd like to sit by the water's edge I can recommend El Ocaso Resto Bar, right next to the beach with views across the lake. The staff are also wonderful!

View from the beach near Ocaso Resto Bar in Villa La Angostura

Lago Nahuel Huapi

Our first stop was at the Mirador Inalco, a short distance out of Villa La Angostura.

NB: Nahuel Huapi isn't actually part of the '7 Lakes', but I've still included it here.

**It's important to note here that most of the blog posts I read before making this trip all start in San Martin de Los Andes, and I now believe the reason is that the majority of the viewpoints are more easily accessible (i.e. on the same side of the road as you're driving). Therefore, if you're starting in Bariloche, I'd make sure you know where the viewpoints are ahead of time to avoid having to turn around or veer infront of the oncoming traffic.**

Mirador Inalco provides a beautifully open view of Lago Nahuel Huapi, and has a spacious parking area. We were greeted by the everpresent Saint Bernard dog (I swear there's one at almost every photo location) in a VW Camper Van, along with the guy in the picture below who seemed to have an excessive amount of gear attached to his bike.

Now for the actual 7 lakes...

Lago Espejo

After spending some time admiring the views of Nahuel Huapi, you make your way towards Lago Espejo. Just before the lake, you'll arrive at a junction (the official starting point of the Ruta de los Siete Lagos), and I would advise taking a slight detour along the Ruta 231 (towards the Chile border) as there's this fantastic viewpoint of the Lago Espejo beach with the mountains in the background.

After rejoining Ruta 40, after a short distance and a couple of tight bends, you come to another viewpoint (this time with parking on the left side of the road!!), where you can look out over Lago Espejo from the east coast. Personally I preferred the first viewpoint, but I did get an all important dandelion shot!

Lago Correntoso

A short distance onwards from the second Lago Espejo viewpoint, you'll pass Lago Bailey Willis, a small lake named after a US geologist. From there, after a couple of sharp bends, the road curves to the left and you'll come to a viewpoint for Lago Correntoso. The water here comes directly from Lago Espejo via the river Ruca Malén, and then flows into Nahuel Huapi via Rio Correntoso which you cross coming out of Villa La Angostura.

Although the view was partly covered by trees here, we did meet some very interesting characters who were, in their own words, 'on a journey with no destination'. One was from near Luján (San Andres de Giles) and the other from Córdoba. Chatting with them about their journey and experiences is really one of my personal highlights of this trip. It can seem strange at first but I would really encourage saying hello and chatting with fellow travellers, it's a beautiful community.

(Slide across to see the view of Lago Correntoso)

From the Lago Correntoso viewpoint, you descend slightly to cross the Rio Ruca Malén (there's a very picturesque bridge), and then the road curves to left and takes you along the northern shore of Lago Correntoso. This has to be one of my favourite parts of the drive, and at the end there's a sharp left turn and you enter a large valley, with the road cutting right through the middle.

We missed a key stop along this part of the journey, that of the Ñivincó waterfalls, which are meant to be stunning. We will certainly visit this place next time we come!

Lago Escondido

As you leave the valley, passing the Ñivincó waterfalls, the road curves around the bases of two mountains and from there you come to Lago Escondido (Hidden Lake). Very aptly named as you can only really see glimpses of it's clear waters through the trees. To the side of the parking area, there did seem to be a small path down for those who would want to take a closer look.

The aptly named Lago Escondido (Hidden Lake)

Lago Villarino

The viewpoint for Lago Villarino is very close to Lago Escondido. The lake is named after a Spanish explorer from the 1700s (Basilio Villarino). If you're interested, you can read the diary and see the map of his journey here (available in english and spanish).

Again, the view of this magnificent lake is slightly covered by trees, but the glimmering water set against incredible mountains was stunning.

Hidden cove on Lago Villarino

Lago Falkner

Lago Falkner, I think this was my favourite. Coming down from the viewpoint of Lago Villarino, the road flattens and runs between the two lakes (Villarino to the east, Falkner to the west). There's plenty of parking and you can step down to the beach along the western shore of Lago Falkner, enjoing the shade and the panoramic view of the lake. The impressive Cerro Buque (also aptly named) lies to the the northeast side of the lake.

Paddling a little in Lago Falkner was the ideal little break to split up the journey. Wish I could've stayed longer here!

Slide across for more images!

Further along, after a couple of curves in the road, there is another viewpoint, not for a lake but for Cascada Vulignanco. The name in the native Mapuche language means 'loma de aguilucho' or 'eaglet hill' in english. It's a magnificent waterfall that's very easily accessible from the side of the road.

Lago Hermoso

As the road continues after the waterfall, you enter another long straight section of the route. There are a few fantastic points along this section where the trees clear and you get a full panoramic view of the valley that you're driving down.

As you get further along this section, you'll see an old wooden building to your left, and immediately after there is a very small junction. Make sure you know where this junction is before you arrive, otherwise it's very easy to overshoot.

Turning left down this junction is how you get to Lago Hermoso. It's a dirt road, with lots of potholes. If it's been raining, beware of the enormous puddles, if it's been very dry, beware of all the dust. The winding dust road takes you past some farms, lagunas and campsites and eventually you end up at a parking area on the shores of Lago Hermoso.

It was getting towards the end of the say when we arrived here and the wind was picking up, but sitting on the beach and soaking up the late afternoon sun was glorious.

Lago Hermoso

NB: when returning the main road, the only way is back the way you came. We saw on Google Maps that the dirt road continued in a circle and rejoined the Ruta 40, however after a short distance the road was blocked by a fence.

Lago Machónico

As you rejoin the Ruta 40 off the dirt road, a short distance onwards you come to Lago Machónico. In Mapuche, this apparently means 'Lugar de la Páncora' (la Páncora being a species of freshwater crab).

Another vast lake, it gave me a feeling of seeing a lost world, as the other side looked relatively untouched.

Lago Lacar

It was getting late as we left Lago Machónico, and so we decided to go straight to San Martin de Los Andes. There are various stops along the way that are signposted, however we did not stop at any of these locations.

As you leave Lago Machónico, the road winds up the valley and starts to sharply descend (lots of hairpin bends!), down to Lago Lacar, the lake that sits infront of San Martin de Los Andes. Unfortunately I don't have pictures of the descent, but as we came round the final bend, the lake opens up infront of you, and you can see San Martin de Los Andes snuggled away on the corner of the lake.

Here the journey from San Carlos de Bariloche ends, and you can enjoy a well earned beer at one of the many craft beer spots in San Martin!

We went to a couple of places I can recommend: Fass Bier and Dublin South Pub.

Slide for images of Lago Lacar and some craft beer + picada!

For future reference, I have saved all the places of interest from this blog on Google Maps. I've also added in other locations of interest that I'm aiming to see on future visits. You can find the locations here:

https://goo.gl/maps/Ld4heCF5ASQChAdDA

Final Thoughts

An awesome day with fantastic views in every direction. Driving el Camino de Los Siete Lagos has to be on your list of things to do when visiting San Carlos de Bariloche and the surrounding areas.

From Bariloche to San Martin is only 190km. On the return journey, we went directly to Bariloche, however if you wanted to split the trip up to see more, or spend more time at particular locations, I would probably recommend doing so.

If you have any recommendations on other unmissable spots on this route then please get in touch and let me know!