Tierra del Fuego National Park, National park on Tierra del Fuego island, Argentina
Tierra del Fuego National Park covers 63,000 hectares of the southern Andes, from the Beagle Channel to the Fagnano lake area, 11 km west of Ushuaia. Its glacial valleys hold lenga, coihue and ñire beech forests, peat bogs and lakes such as Roca and Fagnano. The Coastal Path links Ensenada Bay to Lapataia Bay, where National Route 3 ends.
The area was occupied by hunter-gatherer groups such as the canoe-going Yámana (Yagán) and the Selknam (Onas); their shell middens remain visible at Lapataia Bay. A reserve created on 1 March 1910 around Lake Fagnano was revoked on 23 January 1935. A park decreed on 25 January 1946 was annulled on 4 September 1947, and the national park was definitively created by Law 15.554 on 30 September 1960.
The Beagle Channel is named after HMS Beagle, the ship that carried Charles Darwin through these waters in 1833–34. At Bahía Lapataia, shell middens left by Yámana (Yagán) and Selknam hunter-gatherer groups who lived off mussels and other shellfish are still visible. The End of the World Train follows the final stretch of the line that once linked Ushuaia's prison to its work camps.
The area is fairly accessible since several main trails lead through the different landscapes throughout the park. Bring wind-resistant clothing because the southern climate changes quickly and strong gusts come across the land regularly.
The End of the World Train, leaving from a station 8 km west of Ushuaia, follows the final stretch of the line that once linked the Ushuaia prison to its work camps in what is now the park. Its El Parque station lies inside the protected area.
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