In 2019, this formerly private park became a national park and, moreover, merged territory with the Jeinimeni National Reserve (to the north) and the Tamango National Reserve (to the south) to form a much larger conservation preserve encompassing 304,527 hectares (752,503 acres). It was a major achievement for Kris Tompkins McDivitt, a former CEO of outdoor clothing company Patagonia and wife of the late nature philanthropist Doug Tompkins. With a landscape reminiscent of the American Southwest, this park includes semiarid steppe, temperate beech forests, grasslands, wetlands, and high mountains. The park includes unique fauna such as huemul, an endangered Chilean deer species; pumas; the hairy armadillo; and numerous birds species such as the Andean condor and pygmy owl. Guanacos especially abound here. Like other parks created by the Tompkins clan in the region, the trails and infrastructure here have set not just a national standard but a global one. Don't miss the excellent Patagonia Park Museum, which, through interactive exhibits, tells the natural and cultural history of the Chacabuco Valley, as well as the importance of national parks in ecological recovery.
