Torres del Paine travel guide

Torres del Paine (Puerto Natales) - Founded in 1911 the city of Puerto Natales sits between the Seno Ultima Esperanza (Last Hope Sound) and the peaks of Cerro Dorotea. Although it does have some beautiful views in its own right, its real function is as a tourism hub for trips into one of the most stunning national parks in the Americas - Torres del Paine National Park. The city offers a good number of restaurants, accommodation and places to stock up on last minute camping and trekking gear before embarking on excursions into the park. The Torres del Paine National Park covers an area of around 180,000 hectares that stretches to the Argentinean border. Consisting of mountains, jagged peaks, forests, grasslands, lakes, rivers and glaciers, it has a varied and dramatic landscape home to many plants and animals. Declared a World Biosphere Reserve by UNESCO in 1978 its beauty and scale are simply breathtaking.

Don’t miss…

Wildlife – The grasslands, mountains and rivers of the park sustain a wonderful variety of flora and fauna.  With well over 100 species of birds in the park, including black-necked swans, flamingoes, austral parakeets and condors - be sure to take your binoculars! The most commonly spotted mammals are guanacos, hares and skunks, and there are rare sightings of the elusive puma.

The Cerro Paine – The astonishing peaks of this craggy massif grace postcards and book-covers the world over, and loom large in the landscapes of the park. At over 3000m high, their steep forested sides are topped with vertical shafts of rock up to 1000m. Their striking form is the result of the remains of hard volcanic basalt rock being left standing in the necks of volcanoes long after the softer rock surrounding it has been eroded away.
 
The Southern Patagonian Ice Field - This glacier field is to be found on the western side of the park and consists of the Grey, Zapata, Dickson and Tyndall glaciers, among others. These glaciers feed a complex series of rivers and lakes right across the park.

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