Cholila

Cholila is a wide valley in northern Chubut with lakes, poplar windbreaks and grazing land under the Andes, and its improbable claim to fame rests on three fugitives. In 1901 Butch Cassidy, the Sundance Kid and Etta Place, having left the United States, took land here under their own assumed names, built a log cabin and ran cattle for about four years before suspicion caught up with them and they moved on. The cabin still stands on its original site, restored over the years and open to look at, with interpretive signage. Beyond that, the valley offers fishing on the lakes, riding, and the road to Los Alerces national park through some of the emptiest country in the Andean corridor.

Highlights

• The log cabin - the restored house built by Cassidy and Sundance in 1901.
• The valley lakes - a chain of lakes with fishing and quiet shorelines.
• The farming landscape - poplar rows, grazing land and the Andes behind.
• The park road - the route south into Los Alerces.

When to go

November to April for open roads and fishing; the valley is wet and grey in winter and some tracks become difficult. Autumn colour in the poplars is striking. The cabin is accessible year-round but the approach track can be muddy.

Good to know

The cabin is a small wooden building with modest presentation and no substantial museum. The village has few services. Getting there needs a car, and the approach is partly gravel. The appeal is the story and the setting rather than the site itself.

Nearby

Los Alerces national park lies south; El Bolsón is north on the RN40.

Key facts