Argentina Guide
Tierra del Fuego
The rutas complementarias
The main route between Tolhuin and Río Grande is fast, paved RN-3, but if you have the time it's worth exploring one or more of the unsealed rutas complementarias (RC) that branch off it – alphabetized roads that provide access to the heartland of Argentine Tierra del Fuego but are only really accessible to those with their own transport. The RCh, which branches off RN-3 22km north of Tolhuin, and the connecting RCf, which joins RN-3 some 10km south of the bridge over the Río Grande, form a 120-kilometre loop that passes through swathes of transitional Fuegian woodland and grassy pasture-meadows (vegas) populated by sheep. Along RCh you'll see cone-shaped Mount Yakush and pyramid-like Mount Atukoyak to the south before the road joins the RCf by Lago Yehuin, a popular fishing locale and a good place for spotting condors, which nest on Cerro Shenolsh between the lake and its shallow neighbour, Lago Chepelmut. Two excellent places to stay are located just off the RCh: Estancia Ushuaia ( 
02901/431663, 
www.estanciaushuaia.com.ar ; Price: $450 and above full board), a rebuilt farmhouse set among marvellously bucolic land, which offers horse rides across the plains or up a nearby hill for fantastic views, and the more upmarket 
Estancia Rivadavia ( 02901/492186, www.estanciarivadavia.com ; US$360 full board), a hospitable boutique hotel with delightful rooms, where you can ride horses and trek across the estancia's 160 square kilometres of land, which include the deep azure waters of Lago Yehuin and Lago Chepelmut.
Some 40km north of Tolhuin, the most beautiful of the central rutas complementarias, the RCa, branches east through golden pastureland, rimmed by lengas and flaming red ñires, towards the coast and the knobbly protrusion of Cabo San Pablo. A wonderful panorama stretches out from the south side of Cabo San Pablo, encompassing the wreck of the Desdémona, grounded during a storm in the early 1980s – at low tide, you can walk out to the ship – but the area is mainly of interest to fishermen, who can choose from several excellent fishing spots in the estuaries of nearby Río San Pablo and, just to the north, the Río Ladrillero. Beyond the cape, the road continues for 17km through wetlands and burnt-out "tree cemeteries" and past the odd beaver dam to the Estancia Fueguina, from where you'll need a high-clearance 4WD to progress any further.