Created in 1937, it covers around 600,000 hectares and it is one of the major tourist attractions in the province and in Argentina. The scene: to the west side, the Andes Mountains, to the east the arid Patagonian steppe. Mountains, lakes and forests, a large ice field with 47 glaciers of the Atlantic basin (Marconi, Viedma, Moyano, Upsala, Agassiz, Bolado, Onelli, Peineta, Spegazzini, Mayo, Ameghino, Moreno and Frias, among others ). After Antarctica, this is the largest reserve of drinking water and the world´s largest ice sheet of about 2,600 km2. Its thawing caused the two large lakes Argentino and Viedma, which cross through the province of Santa Cruz River and flow into the Atlantic Ocean. For its unquestionable beauty, besides its glaciological and geomorphological value, the UNESCO has declared it a World Heritage Site in 1981.
Within the Glacier National Park there are numerous ways to visit the glaciers and ice cover: navigation through the North Arm and Rich Arm of the Argentine Lake and in the Icebergs Canal, going hiking or trekking on the ice.
