This lake belongs to Chile and Argentina; in the neighboring country is called the General Winter. On Chilean territory you can access it by a trail suitable only for horses and/or trekking. It can also be accessed from Argentina by a gravel road that reaches the banks of the Winter Lake.

Palena Lake National Reserve can only visited during summer due to its difficult access and climate with an annual rainfall of 4,000 mm.

The characteristics of Palena Lake make it ideal for recreational fishing and many excursions, fauna and flora observation, horse riding, ocean kayaking and photography.

Palena Lake National Reserve has a beautiful landscape, given by the sierras of the East Patagonian Mountain Range (Cordón Patagónico Oriental), which were formed by the action of glaciers and abundant deciduous forest.

Within Palena Lake National Reserve the first bi-regional stretch of the Trail of Chile is located, which travels along more than 37.2 miles of lenga forests of Palena Lake National Reserve, reaching the Lago Verde locality in the XI Region, at the beginning of the Chilean Patagonia.