Two Cyclists Complete 1,400km Patagonia Ride Across Argentina and Chile

2 articles · Updated · BBC.com · May 29

A month-long, 1,400km ride took two cyclists from El Chaltén in Argentina through Chilean Patagonia to Ushuaia, much of it on remote gravel roads along a variation of the Fin del Mundo route.
The journey highlighted Patagonia’s rewilding as conservation groups restored former sheep ranches into protected land; Chile alone now has a 28-million-acre network spanning 17 national parks.
Torres del Paine shows the strain of that success: annual visitors rose from fewer than 8,000 in 1986 to more than 305,000 in 2024, while trail erosion, waste pressure and tourist-caused fires damaged the park.
Cycling offered access to quieter terrain outside the main hotspots, with encounters ranging from Guanacos and rheas to ranchers managing renewed puma pressure and a stranded Magellanic penguin on Tierra del Fuego.
The route’s appeal lies in that slower, lower-impact travel model, which local advocates say could spread tourism beyond overcrowded icons and reduce pressure on Patagonia’s most fragile landscapes.

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