What this stretch is
The Tronador is the mountain that dominates the southern Nahuel Huapi, a 3,478 m extinct volcano on the Chilean border with glaciers on every face. The road to its foot leaves Ruta 40 at Villa Mascardi, 30 km south of Bariloche, and runs west along Lago Mascardi and up the Río Manso valley to Pampa Linda, a clearing with a hostería and a campsite where the road ends. It is 62 km from Bariloche, and then 62 km back, because there is no other way out.
OpenStreetMap tags 29 km as paved, the Ruta 40 part, and 28 km as gravel, the park road. The gravel is narrow, forested and mostly in good condition, with the climb to the Los Rápidos viewpoint and a few blind corners above the lake. The segment tops out at 950 m.
The one-way schedule
The park road is too narrow for two-way traffic on most of its length, so Nahuel Huapi national park runs it in one direction at a time: inbound in the morning, outbound in the afternoon, with a changeover around the middle of the day. The exact hours change by season and are posted at the park gate at Los Rápidos; plan to be at the gate when it opens inbound and to leave Pampa Linda when the outbound window starts. Arriving at the gate at the wrong hour means waiting, not riding. There is a park entrance fee, paid at the gate.
Fuel: fill in Bariloche
Eleven stations, nine of them in Bariloche in the first 3 km and the ACA at Villa Mascardi at kilometre 30. From Mascardi to Pampa Linda and back is 64 km without fuel. Fill in Bariloche and the day is trivial on any tank; the fuel range calculator shows it as comfortable, and the Mascardi pump is the backup on the way out.
The weather
The climate point for this segment is near Lago Mascardi: January highs of 21 °C with eight rainy days, 15 in April and 18 in July. Wind is moderate on the lake, 10 to 12 gusty days a month year round, but the valley road is sheltered. Snow closes the road in winter, with one snow day a month in July at the lake and far more higher up; the park opens the road to Pampa Linda from spring to autumn. The rideable window on the numbers runs from November to April.
Stops and detours worth the time
Lago Mascardi and Los Rápidos. The viewpoint above the lake where the gravel starts, and the park gate.
Cascada Los Alerces. A side road near the junction leads 14 km to the waterfall on the Río Manso; a worthwhile detour on the way out if the schedule allows.
Ventisquero Negro. Seven kilometres beyond Pampa Linda, at the end of the road, the black glacier: a tongue of ice covered in rock debris calving into a grey lake, with the Tronador’s walls above. The Garganta del Diablo waterfall walk starts from the same car park and takes an hour.
Pampa Linda. The clearing has a hostería with lunch and a campsite, and is the base for the Otto Meiling refuge trek up the mountain, which is a full day on foot and not on this itinerary.
Where to sleep
Our itinerary returns to Bariloche. If you want the mountain in the evening light, the Hostería Pampa Linda has rooms and is the only roof at the end of the road; book ahead in summer.
Riding it with us
The Tronador is the last riding day of our Andes Crossing: short, gravel, and the biggest mountain of the trip, with the farewell dinner in Bariloche that night. Read our tips for navigating the Andes for riding narrow gravel in a group, and the top 3 motorcycles for off-road adventure riding if you are choosing a bike with roads like this in mind.
