The Queulat National Park is a wild and pristine territory where the evergreen forest is topped with the glaciers and ice fields of the Austral Andes, and complemented with the rich bio diversity of the fjords and channels of the Austral Pacific.  Before being a park this land was never inhabited by anyone or any road or path ever crossed it, it is the only national park in Chile with virgin land that can be reached by car. It is the forest mentioned by Nobel price Chilean poet, Pablo Neruda, in his memoirs.

The Queulat Fjord - photo Patricio Silva

The park, located 165 km north of the city of Coyhaique, was created October 13^th 1983 and has a total approximated area of 595 square miles. It can be reached using the beautiful Austral Route which was finished only in 1982.

The park is in the northeast of the region, on the occidental slope of the Patagonian Andes; the very irregular topography, with rocky hillsides, deep and steep valleys and spectaculars glaciers is the proof of the glaciations that occurred thousand years ago. The highest summit within the park and the source of the Hanging Glacier is the Alto Nevado with 7.300 ft. above sea level. The weather is temperate and influenced by the sea, with high levels of rainfall (from 11,5 ft. to 13 ft. a year) especially on the occidental shore. The park is also crossed by several rivers such as the Queulat, the Ventisquero and the Bordalí.

View of the Hanging Glacier from the top of the Morraine trail - photo Patricio Silva

The vegetation of the park is cold rainforest with magnificent trees such as coigues, tepas, lumas, arrayanes, tineos, mañios, canelos, ciruelillos,... and an under wood with a huge variety of ferns, coicopihue, vines, bamboo, fucsias, nalcas,...

Hundred years old arrayanes - photo Patricio Silva

The wild life is basically birds such as the woodpecker, the chucao, the huet huet, the cachaña and the kingfisher, it is also the habitat for pudus, foxes, pumas, huiñas,...From the shores of the park, sea lions and austral dolphins can be seen swimming in the Queulat fjord and in the Puyuhuapi sound together with huillines, chungungos and a lot of aquatic birds such as the black necked swans.

Chucao - photo Patricio Silva

Conaf (National Forest Bureau) is in charge of the administration of the park and they have been building several beautiful trails in the forest allowing visitors to walk and enjoy this beautiful environment full of waterfalls and bird songs. Some of the trails that we recommend and include in our programs and which are very close to Lodge Fiordo Queulat, are the following;

Trail through the enchanted forest - photo Rosario Robert

• Path to the Hanging Glacier View Point: only 656 ft. long, it takes the visitor to the confluence of the Ventisquero and Desague River from where the Hanging Glacier can be seen
• Path to Laguna Témpanos: approximately 1970 ft. long. A hanging bridge crosses over to the other side of the Ventisquero River from where a trail borders the river all the way to the Laguna. During the summer, a boat can be rented to approach the glacier.
• Path to the top of the Glacier Moraine: it is a steep path, 2 miles long, that penetrates into the evergreen forest and goes to the top of the moraine. It has a spectacular view of the glacier and of the Ventisquero river valley.
• Path to the Padre Garcia Cascade: short and steep path to the bottom of the cascade with a beautiful view point within the rainforest. It is only 490 ft. long,
• Path to the Cesar Glacier o Cascadas River: it penetrates into a mysterious and enchanted forest, and is a little bit longer than a mile, steep only at the end and it can be followed until the edge of the vegetation. To reach the lake below the glacier the climbing has to be done along the Cascada River.
• Path to the source of the Queulat river: this path is under construction and only 2,5 miles have been built so far. The hanging bridges over the Queulat River were destroyed in the last flow, forcing the visitors to wade the rivers, meaning that special clothing must be worn.
• Path to Guillermo River: So far approximately 2.5 miles of the trail have been already built but it has a difficult access. It is a wonderful hike to enjoy the beauty of the evergreen forest and its enormous variety of plants.

The Lodge Fiordo Queulat is in the very heart of the National Park and also offers hikes in the forest within the property. These hikes can be guided so you can learn the names of trees, plants and wild life of the forest. This trail is 3, 7 miles long and goes to a beautiful waterfall first and then to a white sand beach over the fjord. The lodge also offers navigation to watch animal life in the fjord such as dolphins and sea wolves and to get to small island, Isla Mona, for a spectacular view of the Hanging Bridge. From March to May the lodge offers wade fishing excursions along the rivers and fjord

Flyfishing in the Queulat river - photo Patricio Silva

Main Attractions:

• Plants and wildlife observation
• Dolphins and sea wolves observation
• Glaciers and geology observation
• Hikes
• Botanic
• German settling and immigration from Chiloe
• Navigation
• Fishing (catch and release only)

To visit the Queulat National Park, see our related programs