The Southern Coast
We’ve compiled the best of the best in The Southern Coast - browse our top choices for the top things to see or do during your stay.
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1. Cerro Castillo National Park
Just 64 km (40 miles) south of Coyhaique, this national park is home to one of the most beautiful mountain chains in the region, crowned majestically by the rugged Cerro Castillo. Glacier runoff fills the lakes below the mountain, and the reserve is also home to several species of deer, puma, and guanaco. Cerro Castillo could be called one of the best hikes in Patagonia, but it gets only a tiny percent of visitors compared with its more popular counterpart to the south, Torres del Paine. One excellent hiking route begins at Las Horquetas Grandes, 8 km (5 miles) south of the park entrance. From there, go along La Lima River until Laguna Cerro Castillo, where you can begin your walk around the peak, and then head toward the nearby village of Villa Cerro Castillo. There is bus service from Coyhaique, but it's better to come here in your own rented vehicle. It's also preferable to hike with a guide, as trails are not always clearly marked. Senderos Patagonia (aysensenderospatagonia.com, 9/6224–4725) offers several options for both day hikes and multiday expeditions, as well as horseback rides through the park.
Parque Nacional Cerro Castillo, Villa Cerro Castillo, Aisén, 60000, Chile67-221–2225Sight Details
Rate Includes: 18,000 pesos -
2. Parque Nacional Pumalín Douglas Tompkins
Funded and organized by the late American conservationist Douglas Tompkins, this park covers 402,392 hectares (994,331 acres) and shelters the largest—and one of the few remaining—intact alerce forests in the world. Alerces, the world's second-longest-living tree species at up to 4,000 years, are often compared to the equally giant California redwood. Tompkins, who founded the clothing companies ESPRIT and The North Face, died in a kayaking accident in December 2015, and was posthumously lauded as an environmental hero in Chile and the world over. Pumalín Park represents the biggest parcel of altogether 1 million acres of land officially donated to Chile in March 2017 by Conservation Land Trust, the foundation set up to manage Tompkins's park projects in South America. Thanks in part to lands bought up and preserved by Tompkins, Pumalín became a full-fledged national park in April 2019. The Pan-American Highway, which trundles all the way north to Alaska, is interrupted at Pumalín, though the government plans to expand the highway through it. Meanwhile, there's a well-maintained road stretching 60 km (37 miles) from Chaitén to the northern entrance of the park at Caleta Gonzalo. This park encompasses some of the most pristine landscape in the region, if not the world. There are a dozen trails that wind past lakes and waterfalls. Stay in excellent wooden cabins or at one of the 17 campsites, or put up your tent on one of the local farms scattered across the area that welcome travelers. After the Chaitén Volcano eruption here in 2008, the main entrance to the park was moved to El Amarillo, some 30 km (18 miles) south of Chaitén. But one can still arrive via the more developed Caleta Gonzalo entrance to the north, where a ferry from Hornopirén can drop you off and where the cabins and a park restaurant are located.
Sector El Amarillo, Chaitén, Los Lagos, 5550000, Chile65-220–3107Sight Details
Rate Includes: Free -
3. Parque Nacional Queulat
The rugged 154,000-hectare (380,000-acre) Parque Nacional Queulat begins to rise and roll to either side of the Carretera Austral some 20 km (12 miles) south of Puyuhuapi. The rivers and streams crisscross dense virgin forests. At the higher altitudes, brilliant blue glaciers can be found in the valleys between snowcapped peaks. If you're lucky, you'll spot a pudú, one of the diminutive deer that make their home in the forest. Less than 1 km (about a half mile) off the east side of the Carretera Austral, you are treated to a close-up view of the hanging glacier, Ventisquero Colgante, which slides a sheet of ice between a pair of gentle rock faces. Several waterfalls cascade down the cliffs to either side of the glacier's foot. There is an easy 15-minute walk leading to one side of the lake below the glacier, which is not visible from the overlook. A short drive farther south, where the Carretera Austral makes sharp switchback turns as it climbs higher, a small sign indicates the trailhead for the Salto Padre García. There is no parking area, but you can leave your car on the shoulder. This short hike through dense forest is worth attempting for a close-up view of this waterfall of striking proportions. There are three CONAF stations (the national forestry service), and an informative Environmental Information Center at the parking lot for the Ventisquero Colgante overlook and the southern and northern entrances to the park.
Parque Nacional Quelat, Puyuhuapi, Aisén, 600000, Chile67-221–2225Sight Details
Rate Includes: 8,200 pesos -
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