CARRETERA AUSTRAL

1. Chiloé Island
The inhabitants of windswept Chiloé still tell stories of mysterious ghost ships and seductive mermaids, and upon arriving at this splintered isle with
its otherworldly fauna and aroma of wood smoke, you’ll feel like you’ve stepped into a scene from folklore. Life depends on the sea here – and the
seafood and meat curanto stew, prepared in a hole in the ground, is a treat not to be missed.

2. Chaitén
The townspeople of Chaitén have since reconstructed part of the town and opened a three-mile, round-trip hike where visitors can overlook the
volcano’s steaming dome and witness firsthand the death and rebirth of a forest ecosystem.

3. Pumalín National Park

A newly inaugurated national park, Pumalín was founded by billionaire philanthropist, the late Doug Tompkins (the former CEO of the North Face
brand) and is possibly one of the best parks in Patagonia and proves that there’s more to hiking in Chilean Patagonia than just Torres del Paine.

The views down into the crater and, when the sun is shining, out towards the ocean, are spectacular from the top.

Hanging glacier Ventisquero Yelcho on the way south, parking is in an abandoned campground right before a bridge. 45-60 minutes one way, not
well-maintained trail, but views are worth it. Find Ventisquero Yelcho on maps.me.

4. Futaleufú [Rafting]
In the north of the Carretera Austral and just on the border with Argentina, Futaleufú is one of Chilean Patagonia’s most picturesque towns. Tucked
within a river valley and surrounded by green-drenched mountains, this town, despite its remote location, is globally-renowned – all thanks to the
Futaleufú River that rushes past.

This thunderous river actually tumbles through 47 rapids, including class III and IV and the IV+ and is considered one of the best places for white
water rafting in the world and it’s a great spot for experts and amateurs alike.

You’ll want to visit between November through March, although the end of the season has more stable weather conditions and higher water
levels, meaning the rapids are even more gnarly and fun. In the town, there are plenty of agencies that run tours (from $60,000 CLP ($93 USD)),
most of whom have international guides and all of which speak excellent English. For the less water-inclined, there are plenty of nearby hiking
routes too.

5. Puyuhuapi [thermal springs]

Small fishing village tucked in a fjord alongside dense forests, misty mountains, and thermal springs.

6. Queulat National Park

Famous for its jagged rock walls, hanging glacier, and glacial waterfall. After admiring the scenery from the shores of the lagoon, explore the mossy
(and often muddy) bosque encantado, or enchanted forest.

Duck-egg blue and perched precariously on the edge of some mountains, the Queulat Hanging Glacier is an iconic sight along the Carretera Austral.
It’s accessed by an hour and a half’s hike from the entrance into the Queulat National Park, where you climb slowly through dense, evergreen
beech forest to reach a mirador located directly across from the glacier – offering truly magnificent views.

31 kilometres further south on the way to Coyhaique, the Bosque Encantado (Enchanted Forest) offers equally splendid scenery. A 2.3-kilometer
one-way trail climbs through a magical woodland of beech trees that drip with moss, before opening out to a moraine ridge where there’s a short
climb up to an emerald lake filled by glacial meltwater spilling from the surrounding mountains.

Ventisquero Pendant Trail: This trail leads to one of the most important places in the park that is the pendant glacier from which a huge waterfall
descends. If you have to choose a park trail, this is the most important of all.

The Queulat Hanging Glacier can easily be reached by car; unfortunately, the Bosque Encantado is only accessible by car and, as of summer 2018,
the final section of the hike up to the lake was closed off due to a landslide.

7. Coyhaique
Try pisco, a brandy made from fermented grape juice
 8. Cerro Castillo National Park
Tackle a strenuous hike through forests of Antarctic beech and lenga trees to reach the turquoise lagoon at the base of Cerro Castillo’s jagged
peaks.

Further south along the Carretera Austral, Cerro Castillo is another newly-inaugurated national park that converted from national reserve status
back in October 2017.

The area is best known for the spectacular Laguna Cerro Castillo which is dominated by the sharp, torrent-like spires of Cerro Castillo itself.

It’s a climbing, one-day hike up to the lagoon, although there’s a growing number of tourists choosing to opt for the 47-kilometer, four-day Cerro
Castillo Traverse, which starts in the east and cuts right through the park west, passing a series of viewpoints for glaciers and lakes, as well as the
all-important Cerro Castillo itself.

The most complete guide to this four-day trek can be found via Adventure Alan and it’s a challenging hike but one you can do without a guide.

9. Puerto Río Tranquilo (Marble Chapels)

Puerto Río Tranquilo earns at least two days of your trip.

1) Kayak through the General Carrera Lake’s Marble Chapels (the formations have three main islets, a few meters away from the shore,
called the Cathedral, the Chapel and the Cave), a network of glacial caves veined with blue striations carved from calcium carbonate by
over 6,000 years of water pressure.

The swirling, technicoloured patterns of the Marble Caves in Lago General Carrera are probably the Carretera Austral’s most famous
sight. Formed when the winds whip up the spray of the lake and erode the softer limestone, these grottos go back deep back into the
rock.

Surreal in their kaleidoscope colouring and only accessible by speedboat or kayak from the closest settlement of Puerto Río Tranquilo,
these caves feel even more special because of the lengths you have to go to experience them and definitely rank among the best places
to visit in Patagonia.

The colour of Lago General Carrera changes with the light and pictures are best in the early morning. If you visit between April and June,
when water levels are lower, you can pass right through the passageways in the caves and out the other side. Expect to pay around
$10,000 CLP ($16 USD) to go with one of the companies along the shoreline in Puerto Río Tranquilo.

2) Unpack your crampons to explore vibrant glacial caves on the Exploradores Glacier, one of the more affordable glacier hikes in Patagonia
and only recently opened to the public.

Although Perito Moreno is the best-known destination in Patagonia for ice trekking, the Exploradores Glacier, 25 kilometres east of
Puerto Río Tranquilo on the Carretera Austral, is perhaps an even better place to do it.

You’ll get a wide-reaching panorama of the glacier and the Northern Patagonian Ice Field beyond from the mirador (viewpoint) at the
start of the trek (and accessible for those not ice trekking), before hiking onto the glacier for a six-hour experience, climbing moraine
boulders and through dripping ice ravines.

You can book onto a tour with a qualified guide in Puerto Río Tranquilo at a cost of around $70,000 CLP ($110 USD).

http://www.tierraspatagonicas.com/en/a-tour-to-the-marble-chapels/

10. Patagonia National Park and Lago Jeinimeni National Reserve – Valle Chacabuco
I’m still debating over which is my favourite national park in Patagonia for hiking, but Patagonia National Park is definitely in the running.

Another Doug Tompkins-founded protected area, Patagonia has breath-taking scenery, covering everything from mountain-top lagoons to dusty,
sun scorched grasslands and even mountain traverses through river gorges.

Hike the 23km Lagunas Altas Trail to spot guanacos and condors among the alpine lakes. I only had the chance to hike the spectacular Lagunas
Altas Trail. It’s a challenging 23-kilometre day-hike that ascends the south side of the valley in which much of the park is located, climbing into
lenga forests past beautiful azure lagoons, before looping back down to the campground where you start.

There’s also the a three- to four-day, 52-kilometer trek, known as the Traversía Jeinimeni-Avilés or Sendero Valle Hermoso-Valle Chacabuco, that
crosses from Patagonia National Park into the Jeinimeni National Reserve.

For more information, the park’s website is especially detailed and even in English.
 11. Caleta Tortel
Caleta Tortel is a magical, fjord-side village almost at the very end of the serpentine Carretera Austral. There are no roads here; instead, the village
is connected by a series of cypress-wood walkways that hang above milky blue meltwaters, which drain from both the Northern and Southern
Patagonia Ice Fields. This village is as close as you can get to a fairy tale in Patagonia.

I fell in love upon arrival, as the sun lit up the pastel-hued waters and the morning dew sparkled on the wooden walkways. From the town, local
people run boat trips out to hanging glaciers and the mysterious Isla de los Muertos (“the Island of the Dead”). Here, 33 crosses bear testament to
the deaths of the first Chilean people who inhabited the region and who are thought to have been poisoned by the forestry company that
employed them. Again, Caleta Tortel is made more magical by the fact that it is so inaccessible.

12. O’Higgins
It’s a three-and-a-half-hour drive or bus journey down to the very end of the 1,240-kilometre Carretera Austral to reach Villa O’Higgins. This tiny,
600-inhabitant village is unremarkable; however, in the surrounding area you can visit the bewitching snout of the O’Higgins Glacier, a 75,000-
hectare and 38-kilometre-long slice of dense, compressed ice where spectacular bergs calve at frequent intervals.

You can take a six-hour boat tour out with local operator Robinson Crusoe for $82,000 CLP ($129 USD).

Hop on a boat to cross Lake O’Higgins for impressive views of the O’Higgins Glacier, where you can sip a glass of whiskey chilled with ice from the
glacier itself.

Option: RUTA 40 – Puerto Guadal

Desde aquí parte la ruta Nro. 41, una de las rutas más lindas de toda la Patagonia, donde se asciende hasta la parte superior de la meseta del lago
Buenos Aires (1500 m.s.n.m) para luego descender al valle de los lagos Posadas y Pueyrredón a tan solo 180 m.