Verdict
Grounded inside both national parks: no exception path fits an 8-day trip. Los Glaciares (Argentina) and Torres del Paine (Chile) both ban recreational drone flight park-wide by statute. No permit process fits a tourist itinerary in either.
Outside the parks, flying is structurally legal in both, but confirm: (1) the spot is actually outside the boundary (only El Calafate and the Laguna Amarga steppe are confirmed outside here); (2) in Chile, whether a tourist can fly a sub-750 g drone at all; sources conflict, neither is DGAC.
Argentina: register both drones with ANAC (free, CAD/TAD portal) before departure. Once registered, outside-park flight is legal under Open category: 400 ft (122 m) AGL, VLOS only.
Chile: don't assume you can fly. Resolve the sub-750 g question with DGAC (pplasser@dgac.gob.cl / +56 2 2439 2692) before deciding which drone(s) travel to the Chile leg.
Compliance checklist — before departure
| Action | Country | Lead time | Link | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Open Casillero Aeronáutico Digital (CAD) account | Argentina | ~4–6 wks before Oct 27 (precautionary, no official figure exists) | ANAC — VANT registration | Required >250 g, free corroborated |
| File RPA/RPAS registration via Trámites a Distancia (TAD) | Argentina | Same window, after CAD | ANAC — Registro de VANT/SVANT | Required, free corroborated |
| Complete ANAC's free "basic knowledge" module (Open category) | Argentina | Anytime before flying | ANAC — nuevo marco normativo | No pilot license required corroborated |
| Resolve sub-750 g tourist exemption with DGAC for your model(s) | Chile | ASAP (6–8 wks out, for a reply and plan B) | pplasser@dgac.gob.cl · +56 2 2439 2692 | Unresolved: action required unverified |
| Attempt to read DAN 151 Ed.4 (24 Mar 2026) directly | Chile | Before the DGAC contact: informs what to ask | DGAC — DAN 151 Ed.4 PDF | Official PDF, not machine-extractable: needs human read official doc, unread |
| Drone insurance | Both | Anytime before departure | — | Not mandatory Open/tourist single-sourced; mandatory Argentina Specific/Certified corroborated |
| Spare/loose lithium batteries in carry-on, fire-resistant LiPo bag | Both flights (ATL↔FTE/PUQ) | Before departure | — | Standard IATA/airline rule corroborated (generic): carrier-specific watt-hour limits not checked |
| Declare drone equipment at Chile land entry (Cancha Carrera / Río Don Guillermo) | Chile land border | At the crossing | — | No Aduana Chile drone page found unverified: declare proactively |
| SAG (Servicio Agrícola y Ganadero) entry declaration | Chile entry (air or land) | At the crossing | — | Standard entry rule; no drone-specific SAG item found not drone-specific |
Argentina rules (ANAC)
Governing regulation: ANAC Resolution 550/2025, in force since Aug 8, 2025, replacing the four-tier Resolution 880/2019 with a three-category, risk-based framework. official
Weight classes
- Open: under 25 kg MTOW urban/controlled; no limit rural/uncontrolled, this trip's category. corroborated
- Specific: 25–150 kg, or outside Open params: needs authorization, ops manual, insurance, licensing.
- Certified: 150+ kg: treated like manned aviation.
Registration & licensing
Mandatory >250 g via CAD + TAD. corroborated drone-laws.com says this applies to tourists, no foreign license required. single-sourced No official ANAC lead time exists: 4–6 weeks is a precaution, not a confirmed figure.
Insurance
Not mandatory Open/tourist per drone-laws.com. single-sourced Mandatory Specific/Certified per ANAC. corroborated
Altitude / VLOS
400 ft (122 m) AGL, visual-line-of-sight only (observer-aided allowed), Open category. corroborated
Penalties
No Los Glaciares-specific fine schedule: see Park bans below.
source: ANAC — nuevo marco normativo para drones (accessed 2026-08-11) · Boletín Oficial — Resolución 550/2025 (Aug 8, 2025) · Sky Solutions — explainer (accessed 2026-08-11) · drone-laws.com — Argentina (accessed 2026-08-11)
Chile rules (DGAC)
Governing regulation: DAN 151, transitioning to Edition 4 (PDF dated Mar 24, 2026). DAN 151 governs populated-area ops; DAN 91 governs unpopulated areas: most Patagonian wilderness outside towns. corroborated
Sub-750 g tourist exemption — unresolved
Two secondary sources conflict, neither is DGAC:
- Academia de Drones de Chile: under 750 g needs no registration/credential, VLOS only, capped at 164 ft (50 m) AGL under Ed.3 (maybe raised toward 400 ft under Ed.4, unconfirmed). Above 750 g: registration + credential + insurance mandatory. single-sourced
- drone-laws.com: the sub-750 g exemption is foam-toy-drone-only (not standard DJI-type drones) and registration for non-exempt drones "is not possible for foreigners," meaning a foreign tourist can't legally fly a standard consumer drone in Chile at all. single-sourced
The DAN 151 Ed.4 PDF text isn't machine-extractable (843.8 KB image/font-stream, confirmed to exist, unread across two research passes). Resolve by reading it directly or contacting DGAC's Airworthiness Subdept: Patricio Plasser, pplasser@dgac.gob.cl, +56 2 2439 2692 (verified correct).
Gear read: sub-750 g drones (DJI Mini, ~249 g) may get the favorable reading if DGAC confirms it isn't foam-only. Air 2S (595 g) is borderline; Mavic 3 (~900 g) is squarely over: assume the stricter regime and that foreigners can't access the credential path.
Insurance
Required >750 g per Academia de Drones de Chile; not stated for sub-750 g. single-sourced
Lead time
No official DGAC lead time exists. The full RPAS credential (theory, medical, written test) targets professionals, not confirmed accessible to tourists; don't plan around it. Plan around the sub-750 g exemption, pending DGAC confirmation.
source: DGAC — Operación de Drones (accessed 2026-08-11) · DAN 151 Ed.4 PDF (24 Mar 2026, not text-extractable) · DroneMedia.cl explainer (Apr 30, 2026) · Academia de Drones de Chile (accessed 2026-08-11) · drone-laws.com — Chile (accessed 2026-08-11)
Park bans
Los Glaciares (APN, Argentina)
Prohibited park-wide under Ley 22.351, Art. 5 inciso L (bans motorized-aircraft overflights; narrow exceptions for essential routes, SAR, disaster response, science, park admin). UAVs count as "aeronave" via ANAC Res. 527/2015. official Official visitor page: "Está prohibido el uso de drones." official
Exception path: APN permits (filmicasyeventos@apn.gob.ar), granted only in "exceptional cases" with ranger supervision: not viable for 8 days. single-sourced
Penalties: confiscation + fines are the pattern: a French tourist paid AR$10,000 and lost his drone at Quebrada del Condorito NP (Jan 2020); Nahuel Huapi cites AR$40,000, up to AR$120,000 for fauna/flora damage (May 2023): both stale; real 2026 fines are almost certainly higher. Possible disqualification from park activities up to 7 years. pattern corroborated figures stale
Torres del Paine (CONAF, Chile)
Prohibited park-wide for tourism/recreational use. CONAF: "CONAF prohíbe expresamente el uso de RPA en todas las ASP del SNAP... para fines recreativos o turísticos." official Consequence: expulsion plus reported to DGAC. official
Exceptions: pre-authorized science/filming, CONAF's own monitoring flights: no same-trip path for tourists.
Real enforcement: Feb 2020, Brazilian tourists caught flying by guardaparques; no expulsion only because they'd left before rangers arrived. single-sourced, dated
Fine figures: no official schedule exists; a commercial aggregator cites "fines up to $36,000," unclear currency; implausibly low, don't rely on it. unverified
Bottom line, both countries: the confirmed consequence is confiscation/expulsion, not the fine amount: losing the drone and its footage mid-trip is the real risk.
source: Ley 22.351 (Infoleg) (accessed 2026-08-11) · Los Glaciares NP — official recommendations (accessed 2026-08-11) · El Cordillerano — Nahuel Huapi fines (May 19, 2023) · Cadena 3 — Quebrada del Condorito fine (Jan 2020) · CONAF — restricciones drones (Oct 24, 2023) · Torres del Paine — Actividades no autorizadas (accessed 2026-08-11) · ELPINGUINO.COM — 2020 incident (Feb 12, 2020)
Legal fly map — candidate locations
No official APN/CONAF boundary GIS was checked against any coordinate below: every "outside boundary" call is textual only. Default every location to grounded unless confirmed in the field (Gaia GPS/OSM both publish these boundaries, see Field protocol).
| Location | Coordinates | The shot | Boundary proximity / confidence | Wind / flyability | Permission needed | Legality source | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ruta 23 pullout, ~3.7 mi (6 km) from El Chaltén (claimed) | Not sourced | Fitz Roy + Cerro Torre in one frame, river foreground (unverified) | RP23 enters Los Glaciares NP toward Lago del Desierto; the RN40-direction segment (likely this pullout) is unconfirmed. unconfirmed | Open valley, exposed | None if genuinely outside (unconfirmed) | h-drone.md research; no primary boundary source | Verify on ground: default don't fly |
| Lago del Desierto road, approach to the lake | General route, no single point sourced | Lake/mountain aerial along the drive | Confirmed inside Los Glaciares NP, alongside Río de las Vueltas. corroborated | — | N/A: illegal | Provincial Route 23 (Wikipedia) + Los Glaciares ban | Don't fly |
| El Chaltén ejido urbano / town periphery, general | Town center ≈ 49°19.9′S 72°53.3′W (reference only) | Establishing/context shots near town; not the tight peaks composition | Town's urban zone is a confirmed carve-out (135 ha, Ley 23.766, 1989; +~190–200 ha 2025/26 expansion). Precise edge unmapped. carve-out corroborated edges unmapped | Open valley, wind off the peaks | None if clearly within the carved-out zone | LU17, El Sureño (2025/26 reporting); Ley 23.766 (1989) | Verify on ground |
| El Calafate town & immediate surroundings | Town center ≈ 50°20.2′S 72°15.9′W (reference only) | Steppe/lake context shots; not glacier close-ups | ~50 mi (80 km) from the park's southern entrance via RP 11: well outside. corroborated | Open steppe, very exposed | None from APN; standard Open-category rural rules apply | elcalafate.tur.ar; corroborated by kimkim.com, swoop-patagonia.com | Fly: check FTE control-zone airspace first |
| Laguna Amarga steppe / eastern approach (Chile) | Ranger station area ≈ 50°56.6′S 72°47.8′W (approximate, not re-verified to precision) | Wide steppe/foothills shot of the Torres massif from open pampa, not tight granite-spire compositions | Confirmed outside TdP's eastern boundary, ~3.1 mi (5 km) from Lake Sarmiento. corroborated | Extremely exposed open pampa: known wind funnel | None from CONAF if outside SNASPE; still governed by DAN 151/91, blocked on the Chile tourist-registration question | experiencechile.org; torres-del-paine.org | Verify on ground: geography solid, legality blocked pending DGAC |
| Cerro Castillo hamlet approach (Magallanes, near TdP, not the Aysén national park of the same name) | Not sourced | Not confirmed | Waypoint on Puerto Natales–Laguna Amarga route, SE of the park: no coordinate confirmed. unconfirmed | Open, likely exposed (not researched) | Unresolved | Cross-check research pass, no primary source | Verify on ground |
| Estancia land (private, either country) | None identified | Not applicable | Private land isn't park land; no estancia with a documented drone policy was found. gap, not a "no" | Not researched | Landowner permission required: no named contact found | None: open lead | Verify on ground: contact estancias along RN40 or near Laguna Amarga/Cerro Castillo before the trip |
Field protocol
Wind limits
Spring wind is a structural hazard: expect it strong by default, building toward a Dec–Jan peak. Most DJI Mini-class airframes rate to Beaufort force 5 (18–24 mph (29–38 km/h) / 8–10.5 m/s); treat that as a hard ceiling and add margin for gusts, which routinely exceed it here. Launch/land in the lee of terrain; don't fly if gusts are visibly moving gear or bending grass.
Boundary-check procedure
- Load Los Glaciares/Torres del Paine boundary polygons into Gaia GPS (or OSM's layer) offline: cell service is unreliable here.
- At each location, confirm your GPS sits outside the polygon before unpacking the drone, not after.
- If the boundary is within ~650–1,000 ft (200–300 m) or ambiguous, treat it as inside.
- Re-check after any drive/walk that relocates you.
At checkpoints
No dedicated Aduana or DGAC page addresses drone screening at Cancha Carrera / Río Don Guillermo: a gap, not a confirmed "no problem." Declare proactively, and carry printed/offline ANAC confirmation plus any DGAC correspondence.
Battery cold management
Spare/loose Li-ion batteries: carry-on only, fire-resistant LiPo bag: standard IATA policy (carrier-specific limits not checked). Cold mornings cut usable capacity and trigger early low-voltage warnings: keep batteries inner-pocket-warm until immediately before flight; expect shorter flight times. Retire any battery with swelling or a hard-crash history: replacements locally are effectively nonexistent.
source: h-drone.md and verify-h-drone.md (research passes, accessed/verified 2026-08-11) · cross-check.md (adjudication pass, 2026-08-11); wind-season characterization per cross-check §1.5, drawn from f-conditions.md/g-spring.md, not independently re-verified in this pass