Moderate hike, 8.7 kilometers

Expect for the hike to take 4-5 hours, less if you're a fast hiker and on the longer end if you love a long relaxed picnic at the lagoon (like myself).

Laguna Esmeralda is Ushuaia's most popular hike, that means tour groups and crowds. I recommend going early to avoid a crowd (Argentines are notorious late risers).

With minimal elevation gain I find this trail to be relatively easy. There is one section of the hike (around the middle of the trail in the forest) with a steady incline. That is the only (slightly) challenging portion.

But what else can make this trail difficult? Mud. And that is true for all hikes in Ushuaia.

While it isn't as bad as it used to be since they’ve installed a lot of wooden pathways along the trail, there is still a lot of mud to contend with.

Try to hit this trail after a day or two with no rain if your itinerary allows and wear waterproof hiking boots if you have them.

Once your at the laguna, enjoy a picnic. The views are incredible and there are plenty of sheltered nooks and crannies to enjoy a picnic even on the windiest of days.

There are plenty of tours with guides like this one but, honestly, you don’t need one. The trail is very well-marked, highly trafficked and easy to follow.

How to get to the trailhead: If you don’t have a car, take a taxi to the trailhead and have them pick you up at a set time. There is no signal here. There are also shuttle buses that depart at set times (like this one), they pick up and drop off in the port.

Gear rentals and hiking poles: If you need gear, check out Cumbre Rental downtown. And as this trail has exploded in popularity, there are now vendors in the parking lot renting hiking poles and sometimes even hiking boots.

For a free hiking pole straight out of nature, grab one of the hundreds of hiking-pole sized sticks piled up by the Ruta 3 trailhead, not the one right off the parking lot, skirt around that one and walk 50 meters on Ruta 3, there is a small road side parking lot with a second trail entry. At that entry you'll find hundreds of options.