As you continue your journey around the Circuito Chico, the road then trends down until (now heading north) it crosses a narrow inlet that connects Logo Moreno Oeste and Lago Nahuel Huapi. Beyond the inlet to the left is a little bay in Lago Nahuel Huapi called Bahia Lopez and beyond it to the right is Lago Moreno Oeste. The inlet is a favored bathing sunspot for local residents and it’s easy to see why. The steep hills shelter the little, pebbly beach and the waters of the narrow inlet are probably fairly shallow and warm. The spot is easily accessed from the high bridge that crosses the inlet.
At Bahia Lopez on the Circuit Chico road, there is a narrow, cliff-lined inlet that forms a channel between Lago Nahuel Huapi and Lago Moreno Oeste. Locals love the inlet as a sunspot because of its shallow waters, its little beach and the fact that the surrounding hills keep it sheltered
Continuing on along the road, which at this point is on the side of a ridge, you will see signs to your right (and soon after to your left) telling you of forest walks. This whole area is composed of native, ancient Valdivian forest and walking tracks run through it for miles. It is well worth taking the time to pull off and do some walking in this beautiful forest. This large forest area is protected from development by its status as a state park, which is named after Hotel Llao Llao and lies just to the south of the famous luxury hotel.
For the less athletic or those only looking for a stroll rather than a brisk hike, one easy walk the author can particularly recommend is to the left of the road, where you will see a large lay-by and signs pointing you to Lago Escondido. This beautiful little mountain lake, whose name means “Hidden Lake” in Spanish, is hidden away a kilometre or less in the forest along the left branch of a well-defined path and is well worth a short visit. The right branch of the path leads, again after a walk of a kilometre or less, under an arch of bamboo to an old humpback bridge that crosses a small streambed in the forest.
A short walk from the Circuito Chico road through the native Valdivian forest of the Parque Municipal Llao Llao, one comes to the beautiful, hidden Lago Escondido
Getting back in your car or on to the saddle of your bike and heading off again to the left, you face an easy descent of a few kilometres eastwards through Parque Municipal Llao Llao to the narrow isthmus on which both Hotel Llao Llao (pronounced “Zhao Zhao” in Argentinean Spanish) and nearby Porto Pañuelo are located.
Parque Municipal Llao Llao lies on a peninsula that juts our northwest into Lago Nahuel Huapi and about halfway down the easy descent towards Hotel Llao Llao, a little gravel road to the left takes you a couple of kilometres to a little lakeside village called Villa Tacul, which is situated on a little beach. It’s worth a quick side trip for a look-see.
Porto Pañuelo, which isn’t a village but really just a pier-head, is notable mainly for its large bus and car park and for being the main port of embarkation for most of the boat tours on Lago Nahuel Huapi. Rising unmistakably about quarter of a mile off to your right, however, a much more notable site is the beautiful Hotel Llao Llao sitting on a bluff high above Lago Moreno Oeste.
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