Lake Cholila (Lago Cholila) is a lake in

Chubut Province Chubut ( es, Provincia del Chubut, ; cy, Talaith Chubut) is a province in southern Argentina, situated between the 42nd parallel south (the border with Río Negro Province), the 46th parallel south (bordering Santa Cruz Province), the Andes ra ...

Argentina Argentina (), officially the Argentine Republic ( es, link=no, República Argentina), is a country in the southern half of South America. Argentina covers an area of , making it the second-largest country in South America after Brazil, th ...

. Lake Cholila is the uppermost of several large lakes in the

Futaleufú River The Futaleufú River, located in northern Patagonia, is one of the premier whitewater rivers in the world. One of only two rivers to cross the 5,308 kilometer Chile-Argentina border, the Futaleufú headwaters can be found in the glacial snow mel ...

system of Argentina that via

Yelcho Lake Yelcho Lake is a large fjord-shaped lake located in Chilean Patagonia, in southern Palena province of Los Lagos Region, Chile. The lake receives the waters of the Futaleufu River at its southern tip, near the tiny settlement of Puerto Ramirez. The ...

and the

Yelcho River The Yelcho River is a river in the Los Lagos Region of southern Chile Chile, officially the Republic of Chile, is a country in the western part of South America. It is the southernmost country in the world, and the closest to Antarctica, oc ...

flows into the

Pacific Ocean The Pacific Ocean is the largest and deepest of Earth's five oceanic divisions. It extends from the Arctic Ocean in the north to the Southern Ocean (or, depending on definition, to Antarctica) in the south, and is bounded by the continen ...

Chile Chile, officially the Republic of Chile, is a country in the western part of South America. It is the southernmost country in the world, and the closest to Antarctica, occupying a long and narrow strip of land between the Andes to the east a ...

. The lake is of glacial origin and occupies a narrow east to west valley between glaciated peaks of the Andes.

Description

The Tigre River is born in

glacier A glacier (; ) is a persistent body of dense ice that is constantly moving under its own weight. A glacier forms where the accumulation of snow exceeds its Ablation#Glaciology, ablation over many years, often Century, centuries. It acquires dis ...

s at an altitude of about along the border with

. From its source, it flows eastward about to enter the upper end of Lake Cholila. The outlet at the lower end of the lake is the Carrileufú River (River of Green Waters in the

Mapuche language Mapuche (, Mapuche & Spanish: , or Mapudungun; from ' 'land' and ' 'speak, speech') is an Araucanian language related to Huilliche spoken in south-central Chile and west-central Argentina by the Mapuche people (from ''mapu'' 'land' and ''che ...

). The highest mountain in Chubut Province is Tres Picos, , about west northwest of Lake Cholila. The Carrileufú River should not be confused with the Carrenleufú or

Palena River The Palena River or Carrenleufú is a river shared by Chile and Argentina in Northern Patagonia. It drains the waters of the Vintter Lake, also shared by these nations, and it flows into the Pacific Ocean. 56.5% of the river basin lies in Chile. ...

. Both names derive from the same Mapuche word. Although the lake is not located in a national park, the lake shore is mostly in a natural state. Cattle raising, tourism, and sport fishing are the principal occupations of the sparsely populated region. After leaving Lake Cholila the Carrileufú River is joined by the outflow from Lake Mosquito (Lake Pellegrini) and Lake Lezana and then flows into the upper end of

Lake Rivadavia Lake Rivadavia (Lago Rivadavia) is a lake in Chubut Province, Argentina. Lake Rivadavia is the second lake, after Lake Cholila, in the chain of lakes in the Futaleufú River system of Argentina which via Yelcho Lake and the Yelcho River flows i ...

, approximately river miles and south of Lake Cholila in a straight line distance.

Recreation

Sport fishing is popular in the lake and in the rivers. Trout, not native to South America, are the chief attraction, including

brook trout The brook trout (''Salvelinus fontinalis'') is a species of freshwater fish in the char genus ''Salvelinus'' of the salmon family Salmonidae. It is native to Eastern North America in the United States and Canada, but has been introduced elsewhere ...

brown trout The brown trout (''Salmo trutta'') is a European species of salmonid fish that has been widely introduced into suitable environments globally. It includes purely freshwater populations, referred to as the riverine ecotype, ''Salmo trutta'' morph ...

rainbow trout The rainbow trout (''Oncorhynchus mykiss'') is a species of trout native to cold-water tributaries of the Pacific Ocean in Asia and North America. The steelhead (sometimes called "steelhead trout") is an anadromous (sea-run) form of the coasta ...

, and landlocked

Atlantic salmon The Atlantic salmon (''Salmo salar'') is a species of ray-finned fish in the family Salmonidae. It is the third largest of the Salmonidae, behind Siberian taimen and Pacific Chinook salmon, growing up to a meter in length. Atlantic salmon are ...

. Native species of fish include "trucha criolla" (

Percichthys ''Percichthys'' is a genus of temperate perches native to freshwater habitats in Argentina and Chile. Species The currently recognized species in this genus are: * '' Percichthys chilensis'' Girard, 1855 * '' Percichthys colhuapiensis'' MacDon ...

trucha) and "puyen" (

Galaxias ''Galaxias'' is a genus of small freshwater fish in the family (biology), family Galaxiidae, and are frequently referred to as the galaxiids. These highly adaptable fish are typically found at temperate latitudes across the Southern Hemisphere. ...

). Boating is popular on the lake and rafting, kayaking, and canoeing are popular on the Carrileufú River below the lake.

Butch Cassidy

For several months in 1905, the outlaws

Butch Cassidy Robert LeRoy Parker (April 13, 1866 – November 7, 1908), better known as Butch Cassidy, was an American train and bank robber and the leader of a gang of criminal outlaws known as the "Wild Bunch" in the Old West. Parker engaged in crimina ...

and the

Sundance Kid Harry Alonzo Longabaugh (1867 – November 7, 1908), better known as the Sundance Kid, was an outlaw and member of Butch Cassidy's Wild Bunch in the American Old West. He likely met Butch Cassidy (real name Robert Leroy Parker) during a huntin ...

may have hidden from Pinkerton detectives in a cabin where the Tigre River joins Lake Cholila. The two outlaws owned a ranch near the town of Cholila.Jameson, W. C. (2012), ''Butch Cassidy: Beyond the Grave,'' Taylor Trade Publishing, p. 97

Footnotes

{{reflist Cholila Cholila Cholila Cholila