El Bolsón, Río Negro
El Bolsón is a town in the southwest of Río Negro Province, Argentina, at the foot of the Piltriquitron Mountain. Due to a series of valleys through the mountains of Chile to the Pacific Ocean, El Bolsón has an unusually mild climate for its southern location.
El Bolsón | |
|---|---|
Town | |
El Bolsón Location of El Bolsón in Argentina | |
| Coordinates: 41°58′S 71°32′W | |
| Country | Argentina |
| Province | Rio Negro |
| Department | Bariloche |
| Elevation | 422 m (1,385 ft) |
| Population | |
| • Total | 19,009 |
| Demonym | bolsonense |
| Time zone | UTC-3 (ART) |
| CPA base | U8430 |
| Dialing code | +54 2944 |
| Climate | Csb |
El Bolsón area's first non-indigenous inhabitants were Chilean farmers Lucas Cárdenas and Elcira Estrada, a couple who came in 1885 from San Pablo, near Osorno, and established themselves in the then known as "Valle Nuevo" (New Valley); in 2018, El Bolsón inaugurated the new Public Clock Square after the couple's names. In the 1970s, hippies from Buenos Aires migrated to El Bolsón; some of them practised horticulture and made handcrafts.
El Bolsón has a tourism economy based on an outdoor artisan market, fly fishing, trekking, rafting, climbing, and other outdoor activities in the surrounding lakes and mountains. The nature tourism offers are complemented with the production of cheeses, smoked trout, special brew beer, regional chocolates and ice cream, as well as organic and wild-crafted jams and preserves, particularly elderberries.