Perito Moreno National Park, National park in Santa Cruz Province, Argentina.
Perito Moreno National Park covers 126,830 hectares of Santa Cruz Province, from Patagonian steppe to Andean forest, with valleys at about 900 m. Its highest point inside the park is Cerro Heros at 2,770 m; beyond the boundary rises Cerro San Lorenzo, 3,707 m, usually under cloud. Eight main lakes drain to the Atlantic and Pacific.
The protected area was established in 1937 and named after Francisco Moreno, an Argentine explorer who conducted scientific expeditions throughout Patagonia. The designation preserved this landscape for future generations to experience.
The park's name honours Francisco Pascasio Moreno, naturalist and founder of Argentina's national park system and the La Plata Museum. Since 2011 it has been administered as a complexity III protected area, with a superintendent based in Gobernador Gregores. In 2016 a 15,175-hectare reserve, El Rincón, was created on adjacent donated land.
Visitors must arrange their own transportation from nearby towns, as the park offers no lodging or facilities of any kind. Those planning to stay overnight should bring camping equipment and prepare for basic conditions.
Doug Tompkins first saw Cerro San Lorenzo from this area during a 1968 climbing expedition. In 1991 he returned with Yvon Chouinard and Rick Ridgeway, then bought about 15,000 hectares inside the park; the land was donated to the national parks administration in 2013.
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