Chile has dozens of National Parks, Natural Preserves, and Historic Sites beckoning for you to visit. Visit the links below to begin your adventure!
Chile
Chile has over 39 official National Parks, Reserves, and Monuments.
Official Chile Tourist Web Site
Alerce Andino National Park
Approximately 20 thousand hectares of alerce forest situated in the mountain zone of the Lakes Region. This conifer of slow growth and excellent wood is endangered and this park is one of its main refuges.
Although the alerce (larch) is the dominant tree, the park also has other species typical of Evergreen woods: coigüe, lenga, mañío, tineo, canelo and tepa, among others.
The park also boasts around fifty little lagoons hidden throughout the forests and mountains. Of them, the most well known are the Sargazo, Chaiquenes, Triángulo, Fría and Pangal lagoons. Also known for their beauty although not within park limits are Lake Chapo and the Reloncaví estuary.
The park has trails and refuges which allow you to get to some of the areas less traveled of the park
More Information on Alerce Andino National Park
Altos de Lircay National Reserve
This reserve is known as both "Altos del Lircay National Reserve" and "Vilches Protected Area." It has an area of 16,684 hectares (36,704 acres), and within this area you can find beautiful, natural attractions such as the Lircay River or the Los Coigües Gorge, or archaeological sites of interest such as La Piedra los Platos.
The best seasons to visit this reserve are autumn and spring, when there are not many visitors. The reserve does not have picnicking or camping facilities, although it is still possible to camp. Bringing pets, however, is not allowed. Fires are also prohibited.
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Bosque Fray Jorge National Park
This park, declared by UNESCO as a World Biosphere Reserve, is an extraordinary natural phenomenon. It is a typical Valdivian forest situated in a coastal desert area. As the annual rainfall never exceeds 113mm (4.4 in), the existence of the forest depends entirely on the condensation of coastal fog; called camanchaca. In this area, approximately 400 hectares (880 acres) cinnamon trees, terabinth shrubs, tepas trees and a wide variety of ferns flourish 1,250 km (781 mi) away from where they normally exist.
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Cerro Castillo National Reserves
This park was created in 1970 and encompasses an area of 134,000 hectares (294,800 acres) to the south of Coyhaique. The stretch of the Austral Road that leads to the city of Cochrane crosses the mountainous chain of Cerro Castillo which separates the hydrographic basins of the Aysén and Ibáñez rivers. The predominant native tree of the reserve is the lenga, and can be found forming pure lenga forests at altitudes between 600 and 1,200 m (1,968 and 3,936 ft) above sea level. With its aim to protect the land, the park reforested around a thousand hectares (2,200 acres) with exotic species. Among the animals and birds that live here, there are guemuls, guanacos, foxes, pumas, condors, cachañas (small parrots), eagles, etc. The most beautiful sites are Cerro Castillo (2,320 m. or 7,609 ft. above sea level), Cerro Iglesia (1,750m. or 5,740 ft.), and Conde Stone, a rock shaped over the years by natural elements to look like a human profile.
More information on Cerro Castillo National Preserves
Cerro Ñielol Natural Monument
This park has an area of 89.5 hectares (196.9 acres) and is managed by Conaf. The information center has dedicated itself to collecting data about the country's protected areas and also has four trails, games for children, and a restaurant. The "La Patagua" area commemorates the celebration of negotiations between the Mapuches and the Chilean Army in 1881, where the first Mapuches turned over the land so the city could be built as they also promised to live in peace. There is a ceremonial and prayer center for the Mapuche here.
More information on Cerro Nielol National Monument
Rapa Nui Natural Park (Easter Island)
Easter Island is a destination that seems to inhabit our subconscious. The image of those great stone moai with their backs to the vast Pacific strikes some chord within us, recalls some ancient, creative urge.
This is the world's most isolated bit of land, a tiny pinprick in the great pacific, a mound of consolidated lava and ash from three submarine volcanoes. The natives call their island Rapa Nui or Te Pito o Te Henua, 'the navel of the earth.'
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Archipelago Juan Fernandez (Robinson Crusoe Island)
This tiny group of islands, located some four hundred miles off the Chilean coast, includes what is probably literature's most famous 'deserted' island. Isla Robinson Crusoe is the very island on which the Scottish mariner Alexander Selkirk was marooned for over four years: his recollections of the ordeal gave rise to Daniel Defoe's famous novel and the island dreams which so many share.
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