Lake Menéndez (Lago Menéndez) is a large 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 Menéndez is in the chain of 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 which 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 ...

. Located in the

Andes The Andes, Andes Mountains or Andean Mountains (; ) are the longest continental mountain range in the world, forming a continuous highland along the western edge of South America. The range is long, wide (widest between 18°S – 20°S ...

, Lake Menendez is Y-shaped, of glacial origin, and occupies two narrow valleys between glaciated peaks. The lake is in the

Los Alerces National Park Los Alerces National Park ( es, Parque Nacional Los Alerces) is located in the Andes in Chubut Province in the Patagonian region of Argentina. Its western boundary coincides with the Chilean border. Successive glaciations have molded the landsca ...

. There are no roads or other developments near the lake. Travel is by boat or foot. Lake Menéndez is noted for the extensive Alerce (''

Fitzroya ''Fitzroya'' is a monotypic genus in the cypress family. The single living species, ''Fitzroya cupressoides'', is a tall, long-lived conifer native to the Andes mountains and coastal of southern Chile, and only to the Andes mountains Argentina, ...

'') forests near the tips of its two arms.

Description

Lake Menéndez occupies the deepest lake trough, a narrow

fjord In physical geography, a fjord or fiord () is a long, narrow inlet with steep sides or cliffs, created by a glacier. Fjords exist on the coasts of Alaska, Antarctica, British Columbia, Chile, Denmark, Germany, Greenland, the Faroe Islands, Ice ...

-like valley, in Chubut Province. It was formed by the convergence of two glacial tongues. Near the middle of its length the lake divides into two arms, running at right angles to each other, one continuing northwest, the other turning southwest. The two arms are separated by Mount Torrecillas which rises to in elevation. The Torrecillas glacier descends to within a few hundred meters of the lake's shoreline. Flowing into Lake Menéndez are several small streams originating in the snowfields and glaciers along the border with

, distant. ALERCE O LAHUAN - Parque Nacional Los Alerces - Chubut - Argentina - panoramio

The most extensive forests of rare Alerce trees in Argentina are located at the tips of the two arms of Lake Menéndez. The largest known Alerce tree in Argentina is on the northwest arm near a boat pier called Puerto Sagrario. It is tall, in diameter, and 2,600 years old. Regular tours visit the Alerce forest. Taller and larger Alerce trees are believed to exist on the southwestern arm, but access to that area is restricted. Puente colgante llamado la pasarela - panoramio

Puente colgante llamado la pasarela - panoramio

The shores of the lake are also forested by "cipres" ('' Austrocedrus chilensis'') and "coihué" (''

Nothofagus dombeyi ''Nothofagus dombeyi'', Dombey's beech, coigue, coihue or coigüe (from Mapudungun ''koywe'') is a tree species native to southern Chile and the Andean parts of Argentine Patagonia. It is a fast-growing species that can live in a wide range of ...

'') among other species. The forest is representative of the

Valdivian temperate rain forest The Valdivian temperate forests (NT0404) is an ecoregion on the west coast of southern South America, in Chile and Argentina. It is part of the Neotropical realm. The forests are named after the city of Valdivia. The Valdivian temperate rainfore ...

ecosystem. The frog '' Batrachyla fitzroya'' is only known from Isla Grande in Lake Menéndez. It is named after the ''Fitzroya'' (alerce) trees that are prominent at the locality. The outlet of the lake, called the Menéndez River, flows for only , before joining the Arrayanes River with terminates in

Futalaufquen Lake Futalaufquen Lake (Lago Futalaufquen) is a large lake in Chubut Province, Argentina. Futalaufquen Lake is in the chain of lakes of the Futaleufú River system of Argentina which via Yelcho Lake and the Yelcho River flows into the Pacific Ocean in ...

Recreation

Overnight camping and campfires are not allowed near the lake. Access to some shore areas and tributary streams is prohibited. Fishing, especially for

brown Brown is a color. It can be considered a composite color, but it is mainly a darker shade of orange. In the CMYK color model used in printing or painting, brown is usually made by combining the colors orange and black. In the RGB color model used ...

and

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 ...

, both introduced species, is popular.Esqueloutfitters", http://www.esqueloutfitters.com/FLYFISHING_MENENDEZ.html, accessed 26 Jan 2018

References

{{reflist Menéndez Menéndez Menéndez