Queulat National Park
Queulat National Park is a national park in Chilean Patagonia. The mountain and coastal region is characterized by temperate rainforest, glaciers and fjords. The park's magnet is the "Veintisquero Colgante" hanging glacier.
Understand
History
The national park was founded in 1983 and is in an almost completely natural landscape through which only the Carretera Austral crosses. The wild jungles offer an incomparably original natural experience.
Flora and fauna
The birds in the park are not particularly shy and are therefore easy to photograph. Foxes or even pumas are rarely encountered.
Climate
The climate is very rainy, but even in winter it rarely snows at lower elevations. It's best to find out about the current weather for Puyuhuapi shortly before your arrival. The glaciers always hang low in the clouds.
Visitor information
- conaf.cl (park website; Spanish only)
- Park office, Ave. Ogana 1060, Coyhaique, ☏ +562 22217948, +56672314128, aysen.oirs@conaf.cl.
Get in
You can only get there via the Carretera Austral, which is still gravel in this section. The best starting point for tours into the national park is the fjord settlement of Puyuhuapi between Chaitén and Coyhaique/Puerto Aysén/Puerto Cisnes. Most of the attractions are south of Puyuhuapi.
All buses along the Carretera Austral can drop off passengers at the relevant attractions.
Fees and permits
Travelling through the national park on the Carretera Austral is free. Entrance to the national park, including for the hanging glacier costs 9,000 pesos for foreigners (4,500 pesos for adolescents 12–17). For Chilean citizens, the fees for an adult are 4,500 pesos and 2,500 pesos for adolescents 12–17 (citizens with disabilities, senior citizens and children under 12 can enter free).
To visit the Bosque Encantados you have to pay an additional fee of 3,000 pesos.
Get around
See
- 🌍 Lago Risopatrón (Risopatrón Lake), Carreterra Austral (Ruta 7) (main trunk route through the western part of the park; road is not paved). A lake of great length with a narrows in the middle.
- 🌍 Laguna Témpanos (Témpanos Lagoon) (access via the southwest of the lake via an access road from Ruta 7). A lagoon of intense green color. Has an information center and several short walks around the lake.
- 🌍 Ventisquero Colgante (Hanging Glacier) (see #Hiking to Ventisquero Colgante). Mass of ice that hangs from the mountain. Although it might look like any other glacier, it's the illusion that gives the glacier its name.
- 🌍 Padre García Waterfall. This impressive 30-metre waterfall is located in the middle of the jungle at the northern foot of the Queulat Pass on the Carretera Austral (40 km south of Puyuhuapi) but is essentially a roadside stop alongside Ruta 7. There is a small hiking car park from which you can quickly cover the 200 m to the waterfall.
- Queulat Portezuelo. Area surrounded by pristine flora.
- 🌍 Bosque Encantado (Enchanted Forest). Trail in the Portezuelo Sector. The "Bosque Encantado" (enjoyed forest) is a rustic forest hike to another glacier lagoon. The starting point is the park ranger's house near the parking lot at Queulat Pass (500 m). This is about 7 km north of the junction of the spur road to Puerto Cisnes on the Carretera Austral or 50 km south of Puyuhuapi. The hike takes approximately 3 hours. 3000 pesos, in addition to the park fee; bag drop for 1000 pesos.
- 🌍 Piedra del Gato, Ruta 7. A rocky crag that falls over the Cisnes River.
- 🌍 Salto del Cóndor, Ruta 7. 40-metre waterfall located in the Cuesta del Queulat sector.
Do
Hiking to Ventisquero Colgante
The Veintisquero hanging glacier is the park's main attraction, which can be reached via a 2 km long spur road on the Carretera Austral, 20 km south of Puyuhuapi. There is a parking lot on site, several campsites (see below) and various options for exploring the area. The glacier tongue hangs over a steep rock face and chunks of ice regularly fall down the edge with a thunderous noise. Even if you are not granted this impressive experience, the glacier tongue above the steep face with its large waterfall remains an impressive eye-catcher. The best light on the glacier and the steep face is in the last hours of sunshine.
Mirador Veintisquero Colgante
After a hike through dense and impressive rainforest you get a good view of the hanging glaciers. This moderately difficult, three-hour hike (there/back) is definitely worth it. The height difference to the starting point is only 250 m.
Laguna Témpanos
The glacier lake can be reached on a short and easy hiking trail within 15 minutes from the parking lot. Here you have a nice perspective of the glacier in the distance with the lagoon in the foreground.
Here you can also get much closer to the glacier on boat trips (4-6 people, CLP 5,000 pp) in a small fishing boat or kayak tours (CLP 10,000) to the end of the lagoon. What is particularly interesting is the perspective of the glacier, which towers a few hundred meters above you on the steep face a good distance away.
Buy, eat and drink
There are no shopping opportunities or restaurants in the national park. These can only be found in Puyuhuapi.
Sleep
There are camping opportunities in the area of the hanging glacier. However, hotels and hostels are only in and around Puyuhuapi and on the fjord along the Carretera Austral. These accommodations are not in the national park itself and the attractions can only be reached from there by road.
Camping
- 🌍 Camping PN Quelat. Campsite at the starting point to the hanging glacier, generously parceled out in the woods, warm shower, running water and shelter with a table at each plot.
In addition to this campsite, there are two simpler ones directly on the Carretera Austral and therefore just outside the park. These are also very close to the 2 km long cul-de-sac to the starting point for the tours to the hanging glacier.