Trekking,
Patagonia.
Torres del Paine, Chile
hiking, glaciers, wildlife, big skies
Itinerary
8 chaptersInto Puerto Natales, and the 3 p.m. trek talk
Puerto Natales
Snow
Overview
Today is road and admin, and that is fine. The run north from Punta Arenas takes about three hours on Ruta 9, flat open pampa most of the way, so take a window seat and watch the fence lines for guanaco and the odd ñandú. Puerto Natales itself is small enough to cross on foot in twenty minutes. The afternoon has one fixed point, the 3 p.m. trek talk at Erratic Rock, a free briefing that has become the standard orientation for anyone walking into Torres del Paine. It covers current trail conditions, water and how the camp bookings actually work, which is worth more than anything printed because it changes week to week. Rental shops nearby can fill the gaps in your kit afterwards. Then the Costanera at last light, and a proper bed at Hotel Costaustralis before the trail starts.
Practical tips
Layers for the bus. The pampa can be bright and cold at the same time and the coach runs warm. Nothing to reserve for the trek talk, just turn up ten minutes early because the seats go. Buy your trail food and gas canisters here rather than in the park, where the choice is thin and the prices climb. Ask the hotel desk to hold a bag of town clothes while you walk, since nearly every place in Natales does this for nothing. Book park entry and every camp or refugio online before you arrive, because walk-up spaces effectively no longer exist.
Getting around
Nothing today needs wheels. The bus terminal sits on the edge of town, a quarter of an hour from the water. Erratic Rock to the Costanera boardwalk is about four minutes on foot, and the boardwalk to the hotel another fifteen. Sunset lands close to 7 p.m. at this time of year, so there is no need to rush any of it.
Local notes
The town runs on trekker time. Gear shops, hostels and some kitchens set their hours around the park buses and the 3 p.m. talk, so do your errands in the middle of the day. Cards work in most places, though a few rental shops and kiosks still want Chilean pesos in cash. At the north end of the Costanera stands a small monument to the milodón, a nod to the cave you will visit on the way out on day seven. One thing worth checking before you leave town. Late August sits right at the start of the season, and some refugios, buses and the Lago Pehoé catamaran only wind up properly in September, so confirm your sailings and beds rather than assuming.
- 0109:00 · 180m
Bus from Punta Arenas
About three hours north on Ruta 9, nearly all of it flat pampa, so keep the camera out for guanaco along the fence lines and the occasional ñandú. Coach heating is unpredictable, so travel in layers you can shed. Buses set down at the terminal on the edge of Puerto Natales, roughly fifteen minutes on foot from the waterfront.About this place↗ Open in MapsThe road link between Punta Arenas and Puerto Natales, about 250 km of Ruta 9 across the Magallanes steppe, covered by frequent coaches and airport shuttles.
HistoryRuta 9 is the spine of Chilean Magallanes, pushed north from Punta Arenas to serve the sheep estancias that were carved out of the steppe in the late nineteenth century. Puerto Natales grew at the end of it as a port for shipping wool and mutton out through the fjords.Why it's famousIt is the way almost everyone reaches Torres del Paine, and the drive doubles as a first wildlife window. Guanaco graze right up to the fence line and Darwin's rhea, the ñandú, turns up on the open ground.Did you knowThere is no road from here to the rest of Chile that stays in Chile. To drive from Puerto Natales to Puerto Montt you have to cross into Argentina and back again. - 0215:00 · 60m
Erratic Rock 3 p.m. trek talk
Free, no booking, and the closest thing the town has to a public briefing on Torres del Paine. Turn up ten minutes early because the seats fill. It runs about an hour and covers trail conditions, water, weather and how the bookings work that week. Sort out any missing kit at the rental shops afterwards.About this place↗ Open in MapsA daily 3 p.m. talk for trekkers, run free of charge out of the Erratic Rock hostel in Puerto Natales, covering the practicalities of walking the W and the O.
HistoryErratic Rock started as a small hostel and gear shop back when Torres del Paine drew a fraction of today's walkers. The talk grew out of the staff answering the same questions at the front desk over and over, and it has run daily in season ever since.Why it's famousIt is independent of the park and the two refugio operators, so it says plainly what the official channels tend not to, including which camps to skip and which gear you do not need to rent.Did you knowThe name is a geology term. An erratic is a boulder carried far from its bedrock by a glacier and dumped where it does not belong, which is exactly what litters the ground around Torres del Paine. - 0318:30 · 60m
Costanera boardwalk, Seno Ultima Esperanza
Best in the last hour before sunset, around 7 p.m. at this time of year, when the sound usually goes still and mirrors the far ridge. It is flat and easy, twenty minutes end to end. The small milodón monument stands at the north end, and there are benches out of the wind if the breeze is up.About this place↗ Open in MapsThe waterfront promenade in Puerto Natales, running along Seno Última Esperanza, a fjord that reaches inland from the Pacific channels.
HistoryThe sound was named by the Spanish navigator Juan Ladrilleros in the 1550s, on what he took to be his last chance of finding a way through to the Strait of Magellan. Puerto Natales itself was founded in 1911, decades later, on the wool and mutton trade.Why it's famousIt is where the town looks at itself. Sunset reflections on the water, the sculptures along the front, and the milodón statue that everyone photographs on the way past.Did you knowThe old Bories cold-storage plant just up the shore once processed the region's sheep for shipping to Europe. The buildings still stand and now house a hotel and a small industrial museum. - 0420:00 · 60m
Hotel Costaustralis
A waterfront hotel a few minutes from the Costanera, and your last soft bed for five nights. Ask the desk to store a bag of town clothes while you are on the trail, which is free and normal here. Repack tonight rather than in the morning, since the bus to Pudeto leaves at seven.About this place↗ Open in MapsA full-service hotel on the Puerto Natales waterfront, with a distinctive slate-clad tower, used mainly by walkers on either side of a Torres del Paine trek.
HistoryIt went up as one of the town's first proper hotels, at a point when Natales still had little more than guesthouses and the park was only starting to draw international walkers. Tourism has since overtaken wool as the town's main business.Why it's famousLocal shorthand for the smart end of the waterfront, and a common first and last night for people walking the W.Did you knowThe water in front of the hotel is not open sea. It connects to the Pacific through a maze of channels, and the Navimag ferry threads them for several days on its run down from Puerto Montt.
Catamaran across Lago Pehoé to Grey
Glaciar Grey
Snow
Overview
Two hours of road, half an hour of boat, then the trail proper. The bus leaves Puerto Natales early and runs north on Ruta 9 before turning in at the Laguna Amarga gate, where everyone piles out to have park tickets checked. Somewhere on that plain the massif comes up out of nothing. From the Pudeto dock the catamaran crosses Lago Pehoé to Paine Grande in about thirty minutes, with the Cuernos off one side the whole way. Paine Grande is the largest hub on the W, so refill, eat something, then head west on the eleven kilometres to Refugio Grey. The trail runs along a ridge with nothing to break the wind, which is rather the point of it. You get Lago Grey below you, and the icebergs, long before you reach the hut.
Practical tips
Book the catamaran before you leave town, and book Refugio Grey months before that. Have the park entry QR ready on your phone with a screenshot as backup, because the signal at Laguna Amarga is unreliable. Put the wind shell on from the boat onwards rather than digging for it later on the ridge. Water from the streams along the W is drinkable untreated in most places, and the hut staff will tell you which ones to skip that week. Poles earn their keep today.
Getting around
Bus to Pudeto, boat to Paine Grande, feet after that. Paine Grande to Refugio Grey is about eleven kilometres and takes most walkers three and a half to four hours with a pack, with Mirador Lago Grey roughly two thirds of the way along. There is no road, no shortcut and no phone signal on this arm, so leave the hub with daylight in hand.
Local notes
Two operators run the beds inside the park and they do not share a booking system. Vértice has Paine Grande and Grey; Las Torres Patagonia has Chileno, Los Cuernos and the eastern hotels. Fires are the sore subject here. Two of the park's worst burns, in 2005 and again in 2011, were started by trekkers, and thousands of hectares of lenga forest have not grown back. Stoves only in the marked cooking shelters, no open flame anywhere, and the rangers will act on it.
- 0107:00 · 150m
Bus to Pudeto, Torres del Paine
Leaves early, roughly two hours to the Laguna Amarga gate for ticket checks, then on to the Pudeto dock. Have the park entry QR ready as a screenshot, since the signal at the gate is patchy. Sit on the side facing the mountains once you turn in off Ruta 9. The massif appears all at once across the plain.About this place↗ Open in MapsThe morning park bus from Puerto Natales, stopping at the Laguna Amarga ranger gate before finishing at Pudeto on Lago Pehoé, where the catamaran leaves.
HistoryTorres del Paine was declared a national park in 1959 and named for its towers in 1970. UNESCO added it as a biosphere reserve in 1978. The bus route developed alongside that, replacing the estancia tracks that were the only way in.Why it's famousIt is the standard approach for the W, and the run in from Laguna Amarga is one of the best free wildlife drives in Chile, with guanaco, ñandú and occasionally a puma on the steppe.Did you knowPaine is not Spanish. It comes from Tehuelche and means blue, and it is said roughly PIE-nay rather than like the English word it looks like. - 0211:00 · 45m
Pudeto to Paine Grande catamaran
Around thirty minutes across Lago Pehoé, and it saves a long flat walk in. Book ahead in season, because sailings sell out and strong wind can cancel them outright. If you have time to spare at the dock, the path to Salto Grande takes about fifteen minutes each way.About this place↗ Open in MapsThe passenger catamaran between the Pudeto dock and Refugio Paine Grande, the only scheduled crossing of Lago Pehoé and the usual start of the W from the west.
HistoryBoats have carried walkers across Pehoé since the park trails were formalised, replacing a long detour on foot around the lake's southern shore. The service still runs seasonally and shrinks to a handful of sailings outside the summer months.Why it's famousThe crossing is a viewpoint in its own right. The Cuernos sit above the water for the whole thirty minutes and the lake holds an unusually intense blue from suspended glacial silt.Did you knowA short path from the Pudeto dock leads to Salto Grande, the waterfall where Lago Nordenskjöld drains into Lago Pehoé. It is the reason the two lakes are different colours. - 0311:50 · 40m
Refugio Paine Grande
The biggest hub on the W and your last shop before Grey. Fill water bottles, buy anything you are short of, and strip to what you will actually walk in, because the ridge west is exposed. Forty minutes here is plenty. The hut also sells hot food if you would rather not open your own supplies.About this place↗ Open in MapsA large refugio, campsite and kiosk on the shore of Lago Pehoé beneath Cerro Paine Grande, run by Vértice Patagonia and reachable only by boat or on foot.
HistoryThe site was developed as the western hinge of the trail network once the catamaran made this shore the practical start of the W. It has grown into the busiest of the in-park hubs, with dormitories, tent platforms and a full kitchen.Why it's famousAlmost everyone walking the W passes through it, in one direction or the other, and it sits under the highest mountain in the massif.Did you knowLook at the slopes around the hub and you will see standing dead trees. Much of this ground burned in the 2011 fire, and lenga forest at this latitude takes generations to come back. - 0414:00 · 60m
Mirador Lago Grey
Roughly two thirds of the way from Paine Grande to Refugio Grey, on an open ridge above the lake. Bergs drift down the water below you, pale blue against grey silt. There is nothing to break the wind here, so hold onto hats and camera straps and do not set anything loose on a rock.About this place↗ Open in MapsA ridge viewpoint on the western arm of the W, looking north up Lago Grey to the glacier front and the icebergs drifting away from it.
HistoryThe trail along this ridge was cut as the direct line between the Paine Grande hub and the shelter at Grey, and it stays high deliberately, giving the view that the lakeshore route would not.Why it's famousIt is the first proper sight of Glaciar Grey for most walkers, and the icebergs are the giveaway. They calve at the face, then take days or weeks to travel the length of the lake.Did you knowThe bergs look blue because glacial ice is compressed hard enough to squeeze out the air bubbles, and dense ice absorbs red light while scattering blue back at you. - 0516:00 · 60m
Refugio Grey
The smallest hub on the W, so book bunks or a tent platform months ahead and book meals with the bed. Showers run on a timer and the drying room fills early, so hang wet kit as soon as you arrive. Ask at the desk tonight about tomorrow's boat or kayak slots, since they go on wind and get cancelled first.About this place↗ Open in MapsA refugio and campsite above the eastern shore of Lago Grey, close to the glacier front, run by Vértice Patagonia.
HistoryA shelter has stood on this spot since the western trail was established, serving both W walkers turning round here and O circuit hikers coming down off Paso John Gardner. It has been expanded rather than replaced.Why it's famousIt is the closest bed to Glaciar Grey, the base for the glacier boat trips and ice hikes, and the point where the W and the O meet.Did you knowNothing here arrives by road because there is no road. Supplies come up the lake by boat or in on someone's back, which is a large part of why a bed and a meal cost what they do.
Suspension bridges above Glaciar Grey
Glaciar Grey
Snow
Overview
An out-and-back before lunch, then the long walk south. North of Refugio Grey the trail climbs hard for about an hour to the viewpoint above the glacier, where you finally see the whole thing running back into the ice field. Carry on a little further and you reach the suspension bridges strung over the gorges, one walker at a time, which is where most people turn round. Back at the hut for an early lunch, with the option of getting out on the water among the bergs if the wind allows. Then eleven kilometres to Paine Grande with the afternoon gusts on your shoulder.
Practical tips
Go early. The wind on Lago Grey builds through the day and the boat and kayak trips are the first things cancelled, so if you want one, ask at the desk the night before and take the earliest slot. On the bridges, tighten your hip belt, keep both hands free and do not stop in the middle for a photograph. Sunglasses are not vanity here, the glare off the ice is real. Refill at the hut before you set off south, since the streams on the ridge are fewer than you remember from yesterday.
Getting around
All of it on foot. The mirador and the first bridges are an hour to ninety minutes north of Refugio Grey, so a comfortable three hours there and back with stops. The return to Paine Grande is the same eleven kilometres you walked yesterday, three and a half hours or so, and it feels longer because the wind is usually in your face. Anything north of the bridges belongs to the O circuit and is a full day's commitment.
Local notes
Glaciar Grey pours off the Southern Patagonian Ice Field, the largest body of ice in the southern hemisphere outside Antarctica, spread across the border between Chile and Argentina. The pass above you, Paso John Gardner, is the high point of the O circuit and part of the reason the O runs in one direction only. Everyone comes down over it rather than up. Anyone you meet stepping off those bridges has been walking for the better part of a week and will happily tell you about it.
- 0107:30 · 180m
Mirador Grey & suspension bridges
A steep hour or so north of the hut, then swinging footbridges over the gorges, taken one walker at a time. Tighten the hip belt, keep both hands free and do not stop mid-span for a photograph. Three hours there and back with stops is comfortable. Beyond the bridges you are committing to the O circuit.About this place↗ Open in MapsA viewpoint and a series of suspension bridges on the trail north of Refugio Grey, giving the full length of Glaciar Grey and the gorges that drain into the lake.
HistoryThis section links the W to the O circuit, and the bridges were built to replace slow, exposed descents into the ravines. Each has a strict one-person limit that the rangers enforce.Why it's famousThe bridges are the photograph everyone comes back with, and the viewpoint is where the scale of the glacier finally registers. It runs several kilometres wide at the face.Did you knowThe ice you are looking at is a lobe of the Southern Patagonian Ice Field, the largest ice mass in the southern hemisphere outside Antarctica, feeding dozens of glaciers on both sides of the Chilean and Argentine border. - 0211:00 · 45m
Refugio Grey
Back at the hut for an early lunch and a decision. If the wind has dropped, the boat trip to the glacier face or a kayak among the bergs is worth the delay, and you should have booked it last night. If it is blowing, do not wait around hoping. Eat, refill and start south while you have daylight.About this place↗ Open in MapsThe lakeside hub at Glaciar Grey, doubling as the departure point for the glacier boat trips, kayak outings and guided walks on the ice itself.
HistoryGuided trips onto and around the glacier have been run from this shore for decades, and they have had to keep moving with the ice. The front has retreated a long way up the lake within living memory.Why it's famousIt is the only place on the W where you can get onto the water and see a glacier front at eye level rather than from a ridge.Did you knowGlaciar Grey does not end in a single wall. It splits around a rock outcrop poking through the ice, so the front arrives at the lake in separate tongues. - 0316:00 · 60m
Refugio Paine Grande
Eleven kilometres back along the same ridge, three and a half hours or so, and the wind is usually in your face this time of day. Poles help. Once you arrive, check the dinner sitting time straight away, because the kitchen runs to fixed slots and the showers queue up right before them.About this place↗ Open in MapsThe western hub of the W on Lago Pehoé, with dormitories, camping, a kiosk and the dock for the Pudeto catamaran.
HistoryThe hub grew around the boat landing, which is what made a west-to-east walk of the W practical. It now handles more walkers than anywhere else inside the park.Why it's famousIt is the transport hinge of the whole trek, and the sunsets over Lago Pehoé from the shore in front of it are the reason people linger outside in the cold.Did you knowIf you miss the last sailing there is no road out. The alternative is a long walk south to the park administration area, which is why the hut staff take the boat timetable seriously.
Valle del Francés and the Cuernos
Valle del Frances
Snow
Overview
The middle arm of the W, and the one people talk about afterwards. You start along the lakeshore, drop the heavy pack at the free camp at the mouth of the valley, and climb into a gorge with a hanging glacier on the wall opposite. Sit down at the first viewpoint and wait. Every so often a slab lets go, and the sound reaches you a few seconds after the snow does. Higher up, the valley opens into a ring of black-capped towers with names like the Sword and the Shark's Fin. Then it is back down, pick up the pack, and east along Lago Nordenskjöld to a hut sitting directly under the Cuernos.
Practical tips
Start early and take the turnaround time seriously. Rangers close the upper valley in strong wind or low cloud, and it is a judgement call rather than a timetable, so ask at Italiano before you go up. Carry water, food and a shell, and leave the rest with the packs. There is no shelter above Italiano, none at all, and no water on the last stretch. Book dinner at Los Cuernos when you book the bed, because a walk-in meal depends on what the kitchen has left.
Getting around
Paine Grande to Campamento Italiano is around seven and a half kilometres of easy lakeside trail, two to two and a half hours. Italiano up to Mirador Británico is five and a half kilometres each way with a fair amount of climbing and boulder-hopping, so allow four to five hours return, less if you stop at Mirador Francés and turn back there. From Italiano east to Refugio Los Cuernos is another five and a half kilometres, mostly flat with a couple of short scrambles.
Local notes
The pale rock in the Cuernos is granite that pushed up underneath older, darker sedimentary layers around twelve million years ago, which is why the mountains look as though they have been dipped upside down in ink. The names in the valley come from climbing expeditions, and Italiano, Francés and Británico were camps long before they were viewpoints. Cloud sits on this valley more than anywhere else on the W, so if you get a clear hour at the top, take it rather than waiting for better.
- 0108:30 · 30m
Campamento Italiano
The free camp at the mouth of the valley and the place you leave the heavy pack before climbing. Take water, food and a shell, nothing else. Check with the ranger before you go up, since the upper valley closes in wind or low cloud, and ask for the turnaround time. No shop, no power, no meals.About this place↗ Open in MapsA free CONAF campsite at the confluence of the Río del Francés and Lago Nordenskjöld, at the entrance to Valle del Francés, used mainly as a pack drop.
HistoryThe camps in this valley carry the names of the climbing expeditions that used them long before the W existed as a walking route. Italiano sat at the obvious point where the valley narrows and the climbing began.Why it's famousIt is the gate to the middle arm of the W, and the one bed on the circuit that costs nothing.Did you knowFree does not mean casual. Every night at Italiano still has to be reserved online in advance, and the park will turn away walkers who arrive without a booking. - 0210:00 · 60m
Mirador Frances
About an hour above Italiano, on a rock shelf looking across the gorge at the hanging glacier. Sit down and give it twenty minutes rather than walking straight through, because the avalanches come without warning and the sound arrives seconds later. If cloud has swallowed the upper valley, this is a perfectly good turnaround.About this place↗ Open in MapsA viewpoint partway up Valle del Francés, facing the hanging glacier on the eastern flank of Cerro Paine Grande across a deep gorge.
HistoryThe trail up the valley follows the route used by climbing expeditions working on the peaks above, and the viewpoint is simply the first open shelf where the far wall comes fully into sight.Why it's famousIt is one of the few places on the W where you sit and watch a glacier fall apart in real time. Slabs peel off the hanging ice regularly, especially on warm, still afternoons.Did you knowThe delay between seeing an avalanche and hearing it tells you the distance. Sound covers roughly 340 metres a second, so a three-second gap puts the far wall about a kilometre away. - 0312:00 · 120m
Mirador Britanico
About two hours above Italiano, and the last part is boulder-hopping that takes longer than it looks. This is the turnaround on the classic W, so watch the ranger's cut-off time and your own energy. Give it a proper two hours at the top if the cloud lifts, then head down and collect the pack.About this place↗ Open in MapsThe upper viewpoint at the head of Valle del Francés, ringed by the Cuernos, Cerro Catedral, Aleta de Tiburón, Espada, Hoja, Máscara, Fortaleza and Escudo.
HistoryLike Italiano, the name comes from a climbing expedition that camped here. The peaks around the basin were named by climbers too, mostly for what they look like from below.Why it's famousIt is the closest thing on the W to standing inside the massif rather than looking at it, with granite on nearly every side.Did you knowSeveral of the summits are named after the shapes climbers saw: the Sword, the Blade, the Mask and the Shark's Fin, all in a single ring above your head. - 0417:00 · 60m
Refugio Los Cuernos
Cabins and a refugio on the Nordenskjöld shore, right underneath the Cuernos, with hot showers and a cooked meal that you need to book when you book the bed. Arrive, shower, eat, then go back outside. The light on the banded rock in the last hour of the day is the best of the whole trek.About this place↗ Open in MapsA refugio with cabins on the northern shore of Lago Nordenskjöld, directly below the Cuernos del Paine, run by Las Torres Patagonia.
HistoryThe site was developed to break the long eastern leg of the W into manageable days, which is exactly what it does. Before it existed, walkers had to cover the whole shore in one go.Why it's famousThe position. Few huts anywhere sit this close beneath a face like the Cuernos, and it is the last stop before the towers.Did you knowThe dark caps on the Cuernos are older rock than the pale granite holding them up. Molten granite pushed in beneath the sedimentary layers around twelve million years ago and lifted them, and erosion has stripped everything except the caps.
Along Lago Nordenskjöld to Refugio Chileno
Refugio Chileno
Snow
Overview
The gentle day, relatively speaking. The trail follows Lago Nordenskjöld east, close enough to the water for most of it that you can watch the rock flour turn it that odd opaque turquoise, with the Cuernos over your shoulder for hours. By early afternoon you reach the eastern hub at Hotel Las Torres, which after four days of hut food feels faintly absurd. A restaurant, tablecloths, a shop, hot plates of things. Eat properly. Then turn north into the Ascencio valley and climb to Refugio Chileno, a couple of hours up, which is what makes tomorrow's alarm bearable.
Practical tips
Charge everything at the welcome centre, since it is the last reliable power before the towers. Order tomorrow's breakfast bag when you check in at Chileno, and ask what time the kitchen opens if you plan to leave at half four. Book Chileno as early as you possibly can. It is the smallest place on the trek and the first to sell out. The zigzag at the entrance to the Ascencio valley is the windiest stretch of the whole route, so put the shell on before you start it rather than halfway up.
Getting around
Los Cuernos to Hotel Las Torres is around eleven kilometres, four to five hours, undulating rather than hard. There is a variant that cuts inland and misses the lake, and it is not worth taking unless the weather is foul. From the welcome centre up to Chileno is roughly five kilometres with about three hundred metres of climbing, and most people take two hours over it. Horses work the same path, so step to the uphill side and let them go by.
Local notes
The lake is named after Otto Nordenskjöld, the Swedish geologist who worked this region in the 1890s and whose Antarctic ship was later crushed by pack ice. The ground on this side of the park is not park at all. It belongs to Estancia Cerro Paine, a working sheep and cattle farm that was here before the park was drawn around it. That explains a good deal about the eastern side: the horses, the fences, the hotel, and the fact that supplies reach Chileno on the hoof rather than by helicopter.
- 0109:00 · 45m
Mirador Lago Nordenskjold
A short detour off the main trail, and worth the fifteen minutes. Mid-morning with the sun behind you gives the strongest colour in the water. The Cuernos rise straight off the far shore in bands of dark and pale rock. Exposed and windy, so brace the camera against something solid.About this place↗ Open in MapsA viewpoint over Lago Nordenskjöld, the long glacier-fed lake on the southern side of the massif, coloured an opaque turquoise by suspended rock flour.
HistoryThe lake takes its name from Otto Nordenskjöld, the Swedish geologist who surveyed parts of Patagonia in the 1890s. The names of several features here were fixed by the scientific expeditions of that period.Why it's famousIt is the postcard view of the Cuernos, with the banded peaks rising straight out of the water on the far side.Did you knowNordenskjöld went on to lead a Swedish Antarctic expedition whose ship was crushed by ice, leaving the party to winter in a hut they built themselves before they were rescued. - 0213:30 · 45m
Hotel Las Torres welcome center
A proper sit-down restaurant, a shop and reliable power, all of which feel unreasonable after four days of huts. Take a hot lunch, charge everything, refill water and buy whatever you have run out of. Allow three quarters of an hour, then start up the valley before the afternoon wind gets going.About this place↗ Open in MapsThe eastern hub of Torres del Paine, a hotel, welcome centre and trailhead on Estancia Cerro Paine, where the walk to the towers begins.
HistoryThe land here is a working sheep and cattle estancia that predates the national park. When walkers started arriving, the family running it turned to hosting them, and the hotel and welcome centre grew out of the old farm buildings.Why it's famousNearly everyone who visits the towers passes through, whether on a day walk or at the end of the W.Did you knowBecause the ground is private, the path to the towers starts on an estancia track, and horses still work it daily carrying supplies up to Refugio Chileno. - 0316:30 · 60m
Refugio Chileno
Sleeping here takes nearly two hours off the pre-dawn climb and puts you above the day-trippers. Order the breakfast bag at check-in and ask when the kitchen opens. Pack tomorrow's kit tonight with head torch, gloves and warm layers at the top of the bag, then eat early and go to bed early.About this place↗ Open in MapsA small refugio and campsite in the Ascencio valley, around 450 m up, run by Las Torres Patagonia and the highest place to sleep on the way to the towers.
HistoryThe hut was built to break the climb to the towers into two days. When the free camp higher up near the lagoon closed permanently, Chileno became the last bed before the viewpoint and demand for it went up sharply.Why it's famousIt is the difference between a two-hour walk to sunrise and a four-hour one, which is why beds here are booked months in advance.Did you knowEverything at Chileno arrives on horseback, from the gas bottles to the bread, up the same path you walked in on.
First light on the towers, then out
Mirador Las Torres
Drizzle
Overview
The alarm goes at four and it is worth it. From Chileno the trail climbs through lenga forest in the dark, then out onto a moraine where the last kilometre becomes a boulder field that slows everyone to a shuffle. You come over the lip and the three towers are standing above a green glacial lagoon, and for roughly twenty minutes at first light the granite goes deep red from the bottom up. Then it fades, the wind finds you, and everybody starts down. The descent takes most of the rest of the morning, and by early afternoon you are showered, in clean clothes, with the towers behind you.
Practical tips
Gloves and a hat, not just a jacket. Sitting still at nine hundred metres before dawn is far colder than the walking suggests, and the wait at the top is the coldest part of the trip. Carry spare head torch batteries, because a boulder field in the dark is no place to be sharing a light. Leave the big pack at Chileno and collect it on the way down. Be honest about the weather too. If the sky is socked in, the alpenglow will not happen, and a later start in daylight is simply the better trip.
Getting around
Chileno to the mirador is about four kilometres with four hundred and fifty metres of climbing, roughly two hours up and more in the dark. Coming back down to Chileno takes an hour and a half, and from there down to Hotel Las Torres another two hours or so. There is one route, marked with posts through the boulders, and at five in the morning those markers matter more than any map.
Local notes
The towers are what the park sells itself on, and they were earned the hard way. The Central Tower was first climbed in 1963 by Chris Bonington and Don Whillans, who sat out weeks of storm in a shelter Whillans knocked together from packing crates, an improvisation that became the box tent climbers used for years afterwards. The lower forest is puma country, which is worth knowing rather than worrying about. They hunt guanaco at dawn and dusk and want nothing to do with a line of head torches.
- 0104:30 · 30m
Refugio Chileno
Leave in the dark with a head torch, gloves and a hat, plus water, snacks and a warm layer for the wait at the top. Leave the big pack at the hut and collect it on the way down. The trail is easy to follow through the forest, and the final kilometre of boulders is where everyone slows to a crawl.About this place↗ Open in MapsThe pre-dawn departure point for the towers, a hut beside the Río Ascencio in the valley of the same name.
HistoryThe Ascencio valley was the route the first climbing parties used to reach the base of the towers, and the walking trail follows much the same line up the river.Why it's famousIt is where the sunrise walk starts, in the dark, with a line of head torches strung out through the trees above the hut.Did you knowThe river running past the door drains the glacier below the towers, so the water in your bottle came off the same ice you are about to watch turn red. - 0206:45 · 120m
Mirador Las Torres
Get there before sunrise. The red on the granite lasts about twenty minutes and needs a clear eastern horizon, so it is partly luck. Find a rock out of the wind and sit. Coming down, take the boulder field slowly, because it is frosty at that hour and far more people get hurt descending than climbing.About this place↗ Open in MapsThe viewpoint at roughly 900 m looking across a glacial lagoon at the three granite towers, Torre Sur, Torre Central and Torre Norte, the tallest reaching around 2,500 m.
HistoryThe towers are part of the Paine granite, forced up as molten rock beneath older sedimentary layers and then exposed by glaciers that ground away everything softer around them.Why it's famousThey are the emblem of Chilean Patagonia and the reason most people come to the park, and the twenty minutes of alpenglow at first light is the shot everyone is after.Did you knowThe Central Tower was first climbed in 1963 by Chris Bonington and Don Whillans, who waited out weeks of storm in a shelter Whillans built from packing crates, a design that became the box tent later used on expeditions worldwide. - 0313:30 · 90m
Hotel Las Torres
Boots off, hot shower, a pisco sour on the terrace with the towers behind you. Book dinner when you check in. If you are leaving in the morning, confirm the shuttle time down to the Laguna Amarga gate tonight, because it runs to the bus timetable rather than yours.About this place↗ Open in MapsThe hotel at the eastern trailhead, on Estancia Cerro Paine, and the usual end point for walkers finishing the W from west to east.
HistoryThe buildings grew out of a working estancia established long before the park existed. Sheep and cattle are still part of the operation, alongside the hotel and the horse trips.Why it's famousIt is the finish line. Most people who walk the W east to west start here, and most who walk it the other way end here.Did you knowThe horsemen who work these paths are called baqueanos, and they still move supplies and gear on horseback inside the park boundary.
Cueva del Milodón and a last centolla
Puerto Natales
Partly cloudy
Overview
A slow way out. The shuttle drops you at the Laguna Amarga gate, and the last of the park is steppe rather than mountains, guanaco standing about on the grass with a condor working the ridge above. Then south towards Puerto Natales with a stop at Cueva del Milodón, a cavern some two hundred metres deep where a piece of giant ground sloth hide was found in 1895 and set off a hunt for a living one. Back in town there is time for centolla on the waterfront, the king crab Puerto Natales runs on, before the afternoon bus down to Punta Arenas.
Practical tips
Buy the Punta Arenas bus ticket the day before, or online, since the afternoon departures fill with people doing exactly what you are doing. The cave has an entrance fee paid at the gate and takes about an hour including the walk up from the car park. It is cold inside and colder in the wind outside, so do not pack the fleece at the bottom of the bag. If you are flying out of PUQ, anything after eight in the evening leaves a sane buffer. An afternoon flight means skipping the cave.
Getting around
A shuttle runs from the hotel down to the Laguna Amarga gate, where the Puerto Natales buses stop. Most transfers heading back to town will drop at the cave if you arrange it in advance, otherwise it is a short taxi or a half-day tour from Puerto Natales, about twenty five kilometres out on the road north. The bus to Punta Arenas takes three hours and finishes at the terminal in town, though some services will set you down at the airport turning if you ask the driver when you board.
Local notes
The sloth is a bigger deal here than the cave's size suggests. The 1895 find was well enough preserved that newspapers in Europe and North America funded expeditions in the hope the animal was still alive somewhere in the cordillera. It was not. Centolla is the other local obsession, picked by hand, expensive even here, and worth ordering properly rather than in a sandwich. Ask whether it came in fresh. The answer is usually honest, and it changes what you should order.
- 0109:00 · 90m
Laguna Amarga park exit
The ranger gate on the eastern boundary, and where the park buses stop. Keep the camera to hand on the way down. Guanaco herds stand about on the steppe here and condors work the ridge above. Pumas hunt this ground, though a sighting is luck and mostly around first and last light.About this place↗ Open in MapsThe eastern entrance to Torres del Paine, a CONAF ranger station beside a shallow alkaline lagoon, where park buses pick up and set down.
HistoryThe gate marks the boundary between the national park and the estancia land beyond it, and it has been the main eastern control point since the park's road access was formalised.Why it's famousIt is the best roadside wildlife stretch in the park. The open steppe around the lagoon holds one of the densest puma populations anywhere in South America.Did you knowChilean flamingos feed in the shallows here, which is about as far south as flamingos get anywhere in the world. - 0211:30 · 60m
Cueva del Milodon
Allow an hour including the walk up from the car park. Entry is paid at the gate. The main cavern is roughly 200 m deep and cold inside, so keep a layer accessible. A full-size replica of the milodón stands near the mouth. There are two smaller caves and a viewpoint if you have longer.About this place↗ Open in MapsA vast cavern about 25 km north of Puerto Natales, cut into conglomerate rock, where remains of the extinct giant ground sloth Mylodon darwinii were found.
HistoryThe cave was hollowed out by wave action when the water level here was far higher. In 1895 Hermann Eberhard found a large piece of hide inside, so well preserved by the cold, dry air that it looked recent, along with bones and dung.Why it's famousThe find convinced some in Europe that the animal might still be alive, and newspapers funded expeditions to go and look for it. The sloth stood up to about three metres tall and died out around ten thousand years ago.Did you knowBruce Chatwin opens In Patagonia with a scrap of that hide in his grandmother's cabinet, which is how a great many British readers first heard of this cave. - 0313:30 · 75m
Costanera lunch, Puerto Natales
Order the centolla, the southern king crab that is the town's signature dish. Ask whether it came in fresh, since the answer is usually straight and it should change what you order. It is picked by hand and takes a while to arrive, so book a table if you have a bus to catch at half three.About this place↗ Open in MapsThe waterfront restaurants along the Costanera in Puerto Natales, where the local speciality is centolla, the southern king crab caught in the surrounding fjords.
HistoryThe town lived on wool and mutton for most of the twentieth century, with fishing alongside it. As the estancia economy shrank and trekkers arrived, the seafront kitchens turned towards visitors while keeping the crab on the menu.Why it's famousCentolla from these channels is the dish Puerto Natales is known for across Chile, and eating it looking at the sound is the point.Did you knowThe crab is taken in baited traps by small boats working the fjords, and the fishery is closed for part of the year to protect the breeding season, so it is genuinely seasonal rather than always available. - 0415:30 · 180m
Bus to Punta Arenas
Three hours south on Ruta 9, arriving in Punta Arenas in the evening. Buses finish at the terminal in town, though some will set you down at the airport turning if you ask the driver when boarding. Book any onward flight from PUQ for after 8 p.m. so a late bus does not cost you the trip.About this place↗ Open in MapsThe return coach from Puerto Natales to Punta Arenas, the regional capital on the Strait of Magellan and the site of the area's international airport.
HistoryPunta Arenas was founded as a penal and military settlement in the mid nineteenth century and grew wealthy on shipping and sheep. Wool money built the mansions around Plaza Muñoz Gamero that still dominate the centre.Why it's famousIt is the main way in and out of Chilean Patagonia, and the last town of any size before Antarctica.Did you knowThe city's fortune came from ships rounding Cape Horn, and it collapsed almost overnight when the Panama Canal opened in 1914 and the traffic stopped coming this way.
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