Río Turbio

Río Turbio - Photos: Jorge González

ocated on the Southwest of the Province of Santa Cruz, Río Turbio is located 264 km from the City of Río Gallegos. A typical landscape from Argentinian Patagonia lies along the way between both cities: a plateau crossed by transversal shallow water courses running in a West-East direction.

This route also crosses the historical railway called Tren de la Trochita ("Narrow Gauge Train"), famous for its services in the local mining activities. Río Turbio is a village in the first slopes of the Andes, known as the "Coal National Capital". It has a population of approximately 8,000 inhabitants, mainly coal workers and employees.

Río Turbio lies just 9 km from the border with Chile and 30 km from Chilean City of Puerto Natales (gateway to Torres del Paine). The area features cold Andean weather, with stronger snowfalls in winter that reach up to fifty centimetres.