The day belongs entirely to the coast. Between the Santa Cruz River and the windswept approach to Río Gallegos lies a stretch of Patagonian shoreline that most travellers on Ruta 3 pass without stopping — high sandstone cliffs dropping to wide beaches, sea lion haul-outs, one of the largest Magellanic penguin colonies in the country, and a geological formation that gives the whole park its name. The interior of Parque Nacional Monte León is sheep-farming steppe returned to the wild; the coast is where the day unfolds.
Leaving Comandante Luis Piedra Buena
The 9:00 am departure follows Ruta 3 south along the left bank of the Río Santa Cruz. The road is open steppe from the first kilometre, the horizon flat and far, the wind typically somewhere between noticeable and insistent. About 35 km from town, the signed turnoff for Parque Nacional Monte León leads east off Ruta 3 onto Ruta Provincial 63. The park was created in 2004, making it Argentina's first national park with a continuous ocean coastline — a distinction that came about largely through the work of Kris Tompkins and Tompkins Conservation, who acquired the former estancia lands in 2000 and transferred them to the national parks system. The land had been a working sheep farm for most of the twentieth century, passing through several owners after the guano extraction that had made the coast economically interesting in the late nineteenth century ceased to be profitable. With the sheep and the fences removed, guanacos, foxes, choiques, and pumas have returned; the coast has always held marine life in abundance.
The road south is open steppe, the horizon flat and far, the wind typically somewhere between noticeable and insistent. About 35 km from town, the signed turnoff for Parque Nacional Monte León leads east off Ruta 3 onto Ruta Provincial 63. The park was created in 2004, making it Argentina's first national park with a continuous ocean coastline — a distinction that came about largely through the work of Kris Tompkins and Tompkins Conservation, who acquired the former estancia lands in 2000 and transferred them to the national parks system. The land had been a working sheep farm for most of the twentieth century, passing through several owners after the guano extraction that had made the coast economically interesting in the late nineteenth century ceased to be profitable. With the sheep and the fences removed, guanacos, foxes, choiques, and pumas have returned; the coast has always held marine life in abundance.
RP 63 runs roughly 20 km to the coast through open steppe scattered with mata negra shrubs. The road descends through the Cañadón de los Guanacos, where herds of guanaco are a near-certainty. The road can become impassable after heavy rain — worth checking conditions with the park if there has been recent precipitation.
Juan Quiñonez Recreational Area
The road ends at the coastal recreational area, where registration is required before exploring the rest of the park. The confitería here is the place to check in. There is no other food service within the park, so this is also the moment to settle in with whatever has been packed for the day.
From the parking area, the Lobería boardwalk runs 400 metres along the clifftop to a viewpoint above a South American sea lion haul-out. The animals use the rocky shore below as a resting site, and the boardwalk puts the observer directly above them — close enough to make out individuals, far enough to take in the full sweep of coast. The cliffs here are sandstone, worn into alcoves and ledges, and the light off the water in the morning hours tends to be sharp and clear. Commerson's dolphins are occasionally visible working the nearshore current.