To this date, there are 32 national parks. Next, we will take a tour from north to south, getting to know the most important aspects of these areas.
Northern zone
Region of Arica and Parinacota
– Lauca: it was created in 1965 as a national reserve; however, five years later it obtained the category of park. It is located in the northernmost end of the region of Arica and Parinacota and it contains ecosystems typically of the high plateau and the pre high plateau steppe. Among its main attractions are Chungara Lake, the Nevados de Payachata volcanoes and the Cotacotani lagoons.
Region of Tarapaca
– Isluga Volcano: it has a surface of 174,744 hectares (a hectare is equal to 0.01 km2), located in the pre mountainous sector as well as in the Andean high plateau. It has high archeological value because one can find diverse traces of the aimara culture. In addition, Isluga volcano is located there, one of the sectors highest points (5,218 masl), whose peak is permanently snowy.
Region of Antofagasta
– Lullaillaco: created in 1995, it has a surface of 268,671 hectares. It houses the second highest point in the country, which at the same time lends its name to the park: Llullaillaco hill (6,739 masl). It also has numerous archeological sites, mainly located in the Tocomar gully.
Region of Atacama
– Pan de Azucar: it is located in the Atacama desert’s coastal strip, on the border of the regions of Antofagasta and Atacama, and it takes up 43,754 hectares. It was created in 1985 and has a small hill, very similar to the Pan de Azucar that exists in the city of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
– Nevado Tres Cruces: created in 1994, it is divided into two sectors, both located between the Domeyko and Claudio Gay mountain ranges. It houses Chile’s southernmost saltpan (Maricunga saltpan). In it, one can also find Santa Rosa and Negro Francisco lagoons, where an assortment of species lives.
– Llanos de Challe: located in the coastal desert of the region of Atacama, it was created in 1994. Despite being located in an extremely dry area, it has permanent vegetation thanks to the morning mist or camanchaca. This at the same time, allows the existence of abundant fauna, made up by guanacos, chungungos, chilla foxes, sparrow eagles, small herons, among others.
Region of Coquimbo
– Fray Jorge Forest: created in 1941, it bears the name of the priest that first discovered and described it. Its main characteristic is the vegetation that grows there, similar to the one present in the south of the country, of the Valdivian forest type. Over 400 species of flora have been counted, distributed according to the availability of water, distance from the sea and altitude.
Central zone
Region of Valparaiso
– La Campana: it is made up of nearly 8 thousand hectares, which are split into two sectors: Ocoa and el Granizo- Cajon Grande, both are pretty different in terms of biodiversity. The representative flora consists of peumos, quillayes, boldos and important palms, while the fauna is dominated by some rodents, like the Degu (Octodon degus) and the Darwin’s Leaf-eared mouse (Phyllotis darwini).
– Juan Fernandez Archipelago: it includes Santa Clara and Alejandro Selkirk islands, as well as a great part of Robinson Crusoe, all of volcanic origin. It was created in 1935, reaches 9,571 hectares and has numerous historical sites to visit, like Santa Barbara fountain.
– Rapa Nui: located in the country’s most important insular territory (Easter island), it is located 3,700 kilometers away from Chilean shores. It was created in 1935 and houses important rapanui cultural wealth, like ceremonial centers and villages.
Region of Libertador Gral. Bdo. O’Higgins
– Las Palmas de Cocalan: it is the only private park of the 32. It was created in 1989 and is characterized for having one the country’s largest concentrations of millenary Chilean palms. It even has one of the species’ most impressive specimens in Chile, with a trunk that surpasses 28 meters tall.
Region of Biobio
– Laja Lagoon: located in the region’s pre-mountain range, it was created in 1958 and takes up 11,600 hectares. It includes Antuco volcano (2,985 masl), Laja lagoon and the waterfalls of El Torbellino and Las Chilcas, from where the Laja river is born.
Southern zone
Region of la Araucania
– Huerquehue: created in 1967, its main characteristic is the presence of rich vegetation, with species like coihues, mañios, lenga beeches and araucarias. It has nearly 20 lagoons, spread out over 12,500 hectares.
– Tolhuaca: located in the Araucania’s pre mountain range, it was created in 1935 and covers 6,374 hectares. It is characterized by its rich forest (in the higher zones it is possible to find coigue, lenga beech and araucaria forests) and by some waterfalls that attract tourism, like Malleco and la Culebra waterfalls.
– Nahuelbuta: it has 6,832 hectares and it stands out for housing an important population of araucarias, which form a forest along the Coastal mountain range (which takes on the name of Nahuelbuta mountain range in this place). It also has a fairly diverse fauna, among which are monitos del monte, southern pudus, skunks and quiques, among other species.
– Conquillio: created in 1950, its surface takes up 60,832 hectares, which house numerous araucaria forests, lake Conguillio (of transparent blue waters) and Llaima volcano, one the country’s most active.
– Villarrica: its surface, which reaches 61,000 hectares, is distributed among the regions of la Araucania and of los Rios. It is one of the country’s most visited, and among its natural beauties are three volcanoes (Villarrica, Quetrupillan and Lanin, the Pichillancahue glacier and the Azul lagoon.
Region of los Rios
– Puyehue: created in 1941, its lands are located in both the region of los Rios and los Lagos (in the communes of Rio Bueno and Puyehue). It is characterized by the presence of Puyehue and Casablanca volcanoes and for having numerous hydro resources, like Bueno river, lake Ranco, lake Puyehue and lake Rupanco.
Region of los Lagos
– Vicente Perez Rosales: it is our country’s oldest park since it was created in 1926. It has 253,780 hectares, in which there are natural attractions like the Petrohue waterfalls, lake Todos Los Santos and Osorno volcano, among others. Its vegetation is so abundant that, in some cases, it obstructs the passing of visitors.
– Alerce Andino: it has been a national park since 1982. It has 39,255 hectares, which house humerous lagoons (Sargazo, Fria, Triangulo, Chaiquenes, among others). This park’s main objective is to safeguard the nearly 20 thousand hectares of Patagonian Cypress forest it has, which reach 800 years of age.
– Chiloe: located on the big island of Chiloe, it was created in 1982, taking up 43,057 hectares. It is split into three sectors: Chepu, Anay and Metalqui islet. Vegetation is dominated by evergreen forest (with Patagonian cypresses and Pilgerodendrons), while the fauna has a few mammals endemic to our country, like the Monito del Monte (Dromiciops gliroides), Darwin’s fox (Pseudalopex fulvipes) and the Southern Pudu (Pudu pudu).
– Hornompiren: declared a park in the year 1988, it has 48,232 hectares, in which it is possible to find virgin forests of millenary Patagonian cypresses. Vegetation covers nearly half of the park’s land, as the rest is occupied by snowdrifts, lagoons and rocks.
– Corcovado: it is the most recently created park (2005), taking up 209,623 hectares. It has an enormous biodiversity, especially the marine species that live nearby, like southern right whale dolphins, orcas, sea lions and botos.
Region of Aysen
– Guamblin Island: it takes up 10,625 hectares, occupying almost all of Guamblin island. It has a nearly virgin environment because its difficult access always its species to remain intact. Noteworthy is the great presence of aquatic birds, like seagulls, cormorants and ducks.
– San Rafael Lagoon: it was created in 1959 and has a surface of 181,299 hectares. It can only be reached by sea and has numerous attractions, like glaciers and peat vegetation.
– Queulat: it takes up a surface of 154,093 hectares, in which it is possible to find fiords, canals, and glaciers, among other attractions. It has a pretty diverse flora, which has coihues, tepas, lumas, arrayanes, tineos, mañios, ash trees, ciruelillos and an undergrowth that has a great variety of ferns, bellflowers, flowers, climing plants, quilas, chilcos and enormous Gunnera tinctoria. The variety of birds found in the sector must also be highlighted, like black woodpeckers, chucaos and wood pigeons.
– Magdalena Island: it takes up 157,616 hectares, which correspond to nearly all of Magdalena Island. It has numerous coves (small, closed bays) and abundant vegetation, which prevents the comfortable circulation of visitors.
– Bernando O’Higgins: catalogued as our country’s largest national park, with 3,525,901 hectares. It is located between the regions of Aysen and Magallanes. It was created in 1969 and the world’s largest freshwater reserve is found there (Southern Patagonia Ice Field).
Region of Magallanes and of la Antartica Chilena
– Torres del Paine: created in 1959, it has a surface of 242,242 hectares. It is located in the sector of Chilean Patagonia and is one of our country’s most attractive tourist destinations, because it has natural wonders like Grey glacier and the Horns of el Paine mountain range.
– Pali Aike: it has been a park since 1970 and has a surface of 5,030 hectares. It has a pretty peculiar landscape because the lava formations grant it characteristics very similar to those of the moon.
– Alberto de Agostini: it is the third largest of our country with 146,000 hectares. It was created in 1965 and gets its name in honor of the salesian priest that first explored and spread information of these lands. It has numerous glaciers (Pia, Garibaldi, Aguila, Brooks, among others) and a mountain chain dubbed Darwin’s mountain range.
– Cape Horn: its extension reaches some 63,093 hectares, which include two groups of islands: Wollaston and Hermite. It was created in 1945 and is in the southernmost end of the continent.
