For the full Cerro Castillo experience you can do a five day A to B hike between Las Horquetas and the Sendero Estero Parada park entrance.
We did a shorter three day loop starting and ending at Sendero Estero Parada. You have to register and pay at the park entrance/ranger station. It’s 15$ per person/day, if I remember correctly. So not the cheapest national park, but the campgrounds are free and you don’t need reservations. However, don’t expect a premium toilet experience at the campgrounds.
Apparently people have had unpleasant encounters with locals, when using a certain private trail up to Laguna Cerro Castillo. Some of the park is on private property, which seems contradictory, but we didn‘t spend more time researching this. We recommend entering and exiting through the Sendero Estero Parada, Sendero Laguna Cerro Castillo or Las Horquetas park entrances.
There‘s a good map and further info on the park’s official site.
Stick to the trails on their map and you should be fine.
We left our rental car at Camping Refugio Neozelandés. Not to be confused with the Neozelandés campground located along the trail. Despite being located right after the park entrance, the parking spot is also on private property, so we paid an elderly lady 2$ per day for parking.
The two nights leading up to our trek we stayed at the Triangle Houses and we can highly recommend these super cosy triangle shaped huts. We actually spent Christmas there and it was just perfect. You need a 4×4 to get there, though!
Stats
The loop we did is a three day hike of 36km and 2500m of elevation. Feel free to make up your own loop or do an A to B thing or do it as day hikes.
How to get there
Cerro Castillo national park is right off the Carretera Austral next to the small village of Villa Cerro Castillo. We got there with our rental 4×4. You can also go there by bus. From Villa Cerro Castillo it‘s still a 6km hike to the trailhead, mind you.
The hike
Day 1 – Sendero Estero Parada to Camping Los Porteadores (16,8km, 1200m)
We did the gentle uphill to Camping Los Porteadores, located 4,5km from the trailhead and set up camp. We left most of our stuff in the tent and did an out and back to Laguna Duff. On the way up we passed Campamento Neozelandés which is also an great campground. There is a very cosy meadow with a crystal clear river and great views just next to the camp.
The last stretch up to Laguna Duff is a bit steeper, nothing crazy, but there‘s no shade. Laguna Duff with Punta Duff towering
behind it are very much worth the hike.
Day 2 – Camping Los Porteadores to Camping El Bosque (9km, 860m)
The climb up to Paso Morro Negro is the steepest part of the whole trek, but it‘s not exposed and not technical; a bit rocky, though. Going up the steep part and down the more gentle descent to Laguna Cerro Castillo is probably easier than the other way round.
We didn‘t get an unobstructed view of Cerro Castillo, but the way down to the blue Lagoon was great nonetheless. We then went on past Camping La Tetera, which is currently in recuperation and ended the day at Camping El Bosque. We were the only ones there that night.
Day 3 – Camping El Bosque to Sendero Laguna Cerro Castillo (8,5km, 300m)
Since we were denied a sunrise view of Fitz Roy a week or so before, we decided to give it another shot at Cerro Castillo. A quick glance out the tent at four in the morning revealed a clear and starry sky. So after a quick breakfast we were off Laguna Cerro Castillo.
There was no one else waiting for the sun to rise in front of the massive Cerro Castillo and what can we say; it was worth the early rise!
After a cup of tea and some photos we finished our trek with the downhill to the Sendero Laguna Cerro Castillo park entrance.
Conclusion
Cerro Castillo national park has two killer features: very few people (at least compared to El Chaltén and Torres del Paine) and a great defining landmark. We were lucky weather-wise and had just a great time overall.
Villa Cerro Castillo is a nice little town for grocery shopping and to grab a bite to eat. There are nice spots for wild camping at the bridge across Estero del Bosque and that‘s pretty much all we can say about our Cerro Castillo experience.