Trevelin has a name that sounds like a joke until you learn what it means. In Welsh, tre is town and velin is mill, so the name means town of the mill, and it was given by Welsh settlers who arrived in the late nineteenth century and started growing wheat in this green valley at the foot of the Andes. They had already crossed the Patagonian steppe from the Chubut valley on the Atlantic side, and they found in the sheltered land near the Futaleufú River a place where crops would thrive. Today around six thousand people live here, and the Welsh heritage is still visible in the chapels, the family names and the tea houses.
The ride from Esquel, about twenty-three kilometres to the north, is a short, easy run along a paved road through farmland, with the mountains standing blue on the horizon. The bends are gentle, the traffic is light, and the air smells of cut grass and woodsmoke. The surface is generally good, and the main hazards are crosswinds on the open stretches and the occasional cow. From here the road continues west toward the border with Chile at Futaleufú, about thirty-five kilometres away, and the lakes of Los Alerces National Park lie not far off.
A visit to the old flour mill, now a museum, is a good way to understand the settlers' story, and the town has several tea rooms that serve Welsh cakes, scones and strong tea, a surprising treat in the middle of Argentine Patagonia. Fuel, shops and cafes are available in Trevelin, though Esquel, with nearly twenty-nine thousand people, has more choice. In Esquel, you can also see the narrow-gauge steam railway known as La Trochita, an old Patagonian line that has become a tourist attraction.
The landscape around Trevelin is a mix of steppe and forest, with poplars lining the roads and the first cypress and southern beech coming down from the mountains. In autumn, the poplars and the beech turn gold, and the light at the end of the day is spectacular. Late spring and early summer are also good, with green fields and snow on the peaks. A slice of cake and a mug of tea at a Welsh tea house, after a morning on the bike, is a very good way to spend an afternoon.