Monte Wood, Summit in Puerto San Julián, Santa Cruz, Argentina

Monte Wood is a summit in eastern Santa Cruz Province with views over the dry landscape of the Monte ecosystem. The peak offers sightlines across the surrounding plains and the distinctive vegetation that defines this desert region.

In 1520 Ferdinand Magellan wintered in the bay and, before leaving, had a cross raised on the summit, naming it Monte de Cristo. In 1670 the British expedition of John Narborough explored the Patagonian coast, and the sailor John Wood climbed the hill and carved his name "John Wood" into the soft rock. The expedition of Joaquín de Olivares y Centeno found the inscription in 1746, and the hill has been called Monte Wood since.

The name comes from John Wood, a sailor of John Narborough's 1670 expedition, who carved his name into the soft rock of the summit; the Spanish expedition of Joaquín de Olivares y Centeno found the inscription in 1746. Today a religious theme park, Via Lucis, runs from the base to the summit, and the summit cross recalls the one Magellan ordered erected in 1520.

Monte Wood stands 285 m high, about seven kilometres from the centre of Puerto San Julián. The Via Lucis religious park runs from the base to the summit, and the top gives a view over the whole San Julián bay, the town and the Atlantic. The climb is short but the terrain is rough and exposed to Patagonian wind.

The summit carries a cross that Magellan had erected before leaving the bay in 1520, and the rock still bears the name "John Wood" carved by the British sailor in 1670. The inscription was found in 1746 by the expedition of Joaquín de Olivares y Centeno, which gave the mountain its current name.