Sendero Aonikenk

Sendero Aonikenk is a roughly 4.1-mile point-to-point walk from Portería y Guardería Laguna Sarmiento to Portería Laguna Amarga. It crosses open Patagonian pampa and passes an archaeological rock-art site before continuing to the north gate. The mapped line is 6.6 km; route descriptions round the same corridor to 7–8 km. Allow about 2½ hours, with published estimates ranging from two to three and a half hours depending on stops and pace.

The park map marks Aonikenk as a restricted-use trail for accredited guides. Book it as a gate-to-gate walk and plan the transfer between ends with your guide. Park rules require daylight hiking, check-in at ranger posts and no pets. Confirm access before you set out.

The route is described as a gentle crossing through open steppe, with Lake Sarmiento and the Paine Massif in view. It rises to roughly 290 meters above sea level before descending toward Laguna Amarga. There is little detailed public information on footing, water or shade, so ask your guide what to expect for the day.

The rock-art site is about an hour into the walk from Sarmiento and is the main cultural stop along the route. The Aonikenk name connects the trail to Indigenous history across the Patagonian pampa. I leave the paintings’ age open: published descriptions give conflicting dates, and I did not find an archaeological source that resolves them.