Torres Del Paine National Park.

Torres del Paine is maybe the mos famous tourist attraction. No other Park in South America can boast the same combination of breathtaking landscapes, abundant wildlife, comfortable accommodation and services, and opportunities for remote backcountry hiking and serious mountaineering ascent.

Part of the 242,242 ha was donated to the Chilean State in 1959, and in 1978 it was designated a Unesco World Biosphere Reserve. Geographically, Torres occupies a unique location just south and east of the Southern Patagonian Ice Fields, in an area of transition between the evergreen and deciduous beech forests of the pampa to the east. The inmense mass of the ice fields creates its own microclame, shrouding the peaks to the west in dense clouds and often obscuring views of the Paine Massif the centerpiece of the park- for weeks on end. Surprisingly, however, precipitation in the park is a mere 700mm/year. Winds pose the park's major climatic challenge, with gusts regular exceedingly 120km/hour during the summer months.

Wildlife in the park includes some 25 species of mammals, most notably guanacos, pumas, and two species of foxes. There are also over 115 species of resident and migratory bird species in the park, including a variety of raptors, flamingos, numerous ducks, coots, greese and other waterfowl, and the ñandú or avestruz (south american ostrich). Most wildlife is concentrated in the more benign, open grasslands and scrub of the park's eastern sectors.

Big Paine.

Paine Grande is the highest of the four mountain peaks with an altitude of 10.007 ft.a.s.l. It is composed of sedimentary rock and has many hanging glaciers, wich are fed, by sanow throughout the year. The glacier to the southeast is the most prominent and frequently loses ice, wich falls to the base of the mountain helping the reconstitute Glacier Francés. 

Paine Grande is one of the most attractive mountains for people who enjoy climbing. The first attempt to reach the summit was made in 1954 by an Argentinian expedition, sadly without success due to the loss of two climbers killed by the snow avalanche.

Volcán Osorno.

Osorno's arresting form and proximity to Puerto Varas has made it one of the most frequently climbed peaks in the south.

This Volcano has two separate access roads. From Puerto Clocker on the North shore of Lago Llanquihue, a dirt road climbs 20km to the old site of the refugio "La Picada",wich recently burned to the ground  and is tentatively slated for reconstruction by the summer of 2001-2002. La Picada may also be accessed by trail from Petrohué via the trail over Paso Desolación.

On the south slope of the volcano at an elevation of 1,300m, the old ski area at La Burbuja is accessed via Ensenada. Though the lifts stopped functioning long ago, simple acommodation and meals are available at the "Refugio Teski Ski Club", with phenomenal views over Lago Todos Los Santos, Lago Llanquihue, and south to Volcán Calbuco. Local operators offer easy walking trips on the flanks of the volcano beginning at La Burbuja, wich is also the starting for mountaineering ascents of Volcán Osorno; if you wich you can camp for free below the CONAF ranger station.