Chaco National Park

Chaco National Park was created in 1954 to save a sample of the eastern Chaco before logging took it all, and it protects a mosaic that shows what the region looked like: dense stands of red quebracho, the ironhard tree felled across the region for tannin and railway sleepers, along with caranday palm savanna, riverine forest and lagoons fringed with reeds. Wildlife is easier to see here than in the drier west, with howler monkeys, capybaras, caimans, foxes and more than three hundred bird species including storks, kingfishers and the striking toco toucan. Trails run from the campsite to lagoon viewpoints and through the forest, and a wooden tower gives a view across the canopy at Laguna Carpincho.

What you actually see

• The quebracho forest - the hardwood stands the park was created to protect.
• The lagoons - reed-fringed wetlands with caimans and waterbirds.
• The observation tower - the wooden platform over the canopy and lagoon.
• The wildlife - howler monkeys, capybaras and abundant birdlife.

When to go

May to September for cooler, drier conditions and fewer mosquitoes; summer is hot, humid and wet, and the access road can be difficult. Early morning is best for wildlife and howler calls. Rain closes some trails.

Honest expectations

Facilities amount to a campsite and basic sanitary block; there is no shop or restaurant, so everything must be brought. The unpaved final road is poor after rain. Mosquitoes and ticks are a constant nuisance in warm months.

Nearby

Resistencia lies southeast; the Impenetrable park is far to the northwest.