Villa Pehuenia, Mountain municipality in Neuquén Province, Argentina
Villa Pehuenia is a mountain town on the northern shore of Lake Aluminé in Neuquén Province. The settlement stretches along peninsulas that jut into the water, with the Batea Mahuida volcano rising nearby among forests of ancient monkey puzzle trees.
Mapuche people from across the border controlled the region starting in the 18th century until the area gained official municipal status in 1989. This transition marked a shift from traditional lands to a formally organized community.
The Puel community operates a ski resort on the volcano and still harvests pine nuts from ancient monkey puzzle trees that grow throughout the region. You can sense how deeply rooted these practices are in daily life here.
The town sits at 1,163 meters elevation and is reached via national route 22 and provincial route 13 from Neuquén. The mountain setting means weather changes quickly and visitors should prepare for varying conditions throughout the year.
The town is surrounded by rare monkey puzzle tree forests where individual trees can live over a hundred years, growing even along black volcanic sand beaches by the lake. This mix of ancient woodland and volcanic shoreline is found nowhere else in the region.
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