Chiloe National Park

Chiloé National Park is located in the west side of Chiloé island, has a surface of 106,396 acres, divided in three areas. The first one corresponds to the Chepu sector, with 19,274 acres, the second to the Anay sector located in the communes of Castro, Conchi and Dalcahue with a surface of 86,998 acres, and the third is formed by the Matealqui islet of 123.5 acres.

Chiloé National Park has a relief formed by a massif of plateau-shaped summits, which maximum heights varying between 1,640 and 2,624 feet above sea level.

Access routes to Chiloé National Park:

Cucao Sector (Sector de Cucao): Take Route 5 from the city of Castro towards the South until the Notuco crossing, which will be 14.9 miles of paved road. From there continue by a gravel road that leads to the locality of Cucao in a 21.4 miles stretch.

Chepu Sector : Take Route 5 from Ancud towards the South until the crossing with the Chepu river , which will be 15.5 miles of paved road. The route continues on a gravel road until Puerto Anguay, 8.6 miles away. From Puerto Anguay you must travel on boat downriver through the Chepu river and later continue on foot by a trail, mainly coastal, of 8.6 miles long until reaching the Lar river , where the warden’s house is located. The trip lasts 5 hours.

The main anthropological aspect of the Chiloé National Park is the presence of a native community that resides in an area bordering the Park. They are direct descendants of the Huilliches people.

The community that inhabits the Chiloé National Park still maintains some local customs and traditions, and is dedicated to elaborating crafts, extracting ocean products and subsistence farming.

The fauna and flora of the Chiloé National Park are of great interest; the Evergreen Forest is the dominant vegetation.

The insular character of Chiloé has allowed the development of species and varieties of endemic fauna and of an interest diversity of birds and mammals. Among the latter, stand out the Darwin’s fox (zorro chilote), the pudú or Chilean deer and two shy marsupials known as little mountain monkey (monito del monte) and the Chilean shrew opossum (comadrejita trompuda).

About 110 species inhabit in Chiloé National Park, standing out the rock cormorant (cormorant), the large seagull (gaviota grande), the rufous-legged owl (concón), the common diuca finch (diuca) and the chucao tapaculo (chucao).

In the coastal area of the Chiloé National Park the sea otter and the common sea lion are abundant, and also some birds such kelp goose (caranca), the Magellanic flightless steamer duck (pato quetru no volador) and a variety of penguins. The main activities are fishing, swimming, excursions, fauna and flora observation, panoramic observation, horse riding, boats trips and getting information on environmental education.

Chiloé National Park highlights are:

• Chanquín Sector (Sector de Chanquín): The attraction of this sector is the Cucao lake (lago Cucao), the forests by the sea, the coastal dunes and the extensive beaches that run for many miles by the Pacific Ocean.

• Huelde Lake (Lago Huelde): Located about 9,842 feet to the north of the administrative headquarters, it has an easy access due to its flat topography and the walking trail available.

• The Cipresal river (río Cipresal): Flows into the Huelde lake and it’s an attractive sailing route within a virgin forest environment.

• Cole-Cole: It’s located to the north of Huentemó Point (Punta Huentemó) and has a beach of great beauty apt for recreational activities.

• Anay: It’s located at the north of Cole-Cole. It’s reached by a trail through a forest. In Anay you can observe a forest that is representative of the coastal environment that exists in the Chiloé National Park.

• Abtao: It’s located in the mouth of the Abato river (río Abato), and its greatest attraction is vegetation diversity.

• Lar River-Refugio and Metalquí: To the south of the mouth of the Chepu river, there’s a pedestrian trail that allows having access to the north area of the Park at the mouth of the Lar river. From there it continues until the Refugio river (río Refugio), completely crossing coastal forests environments.

The Chiloé National Park counts with trekking trails implemented for allowing a real contact with nature. These are the following:

Anay Sector (Sector Anay), which comprises the areas of Chanquín, Cole Cole and Anay.

1. El Tepual Trail (Sendero el Tepual) is 2,329 feet long and lasts 40 minutes, comprehending a walk by a tepú (Tepualia stipularis), forest and plants associated to the underbrush; a detour allows you to visit the house of a remarkable craftsman that manufactures “rebales”, a type of violins.
2. Dunas de Cucao Trail (Sendero Dunas de Cucao) is 3,149 feet long and lasts 40 minute going inland through dunes, and shows their origin and ways of controlling their advance.
3. Playa Cucao Trail (Sendero Playa Cucao) is 0.9 miles long and it lasts about 45 minutes. It goes across the dune and the coastal forest.
4. Chanquín Trail (Sendero Chanquín) – Grande Ranch (Rancho Grande) is 7,456 miles long and takes 3 hours an a half one way, comprehending the highest peaks of the Chiloé National Park. It also includes sailing for 45 minutes from the Huelde river and the Cipresal river.
5. Chanquín Trail – Cole Cole is 12.4 miles long and takes 5 hours one way. It goes along the beaches starting from Chanquín, passes by the Huelde lagoon and the Huentemó hills (cerros Huentemó), up to the Cole Cole beach (playa Cole Cole).
6. Cole Cole River Trail (Sendero Río Cole Cole) – Anay River (Río Anay) is 3.1 miles long and lasts one hour an a half one way. It borders the Cole Cole river and then goes into a forest of arrayanes (Luma apiculata) to reach the mouth of the Anay river. Soon a trail will be implemented that, from Anay, will pass by the Ñango river (río Ñango) up to Abtao.

Anay Sector, Abato area

1. Castro – Abato Trail (Sendero Castro – Abato) is 11.1 miles long and lasts 8 hours one way. It transversally travels along the Chiloé National Park from the Pichihué property until the sea.

Chepu Sector

1. Chepu – Lar River Trail (Sendero Chepu - Río Lar) is 8.6 miles long and lasts 4 hours one way. It’s the access to the Chepu sector. Starts at the Puerto Anguay sailing on the Chepu river until its mouth, there it takes the trail to the south along the coast that passes by Tongoy, which is surrounded by forest and rocky places.

At this place CONAF is setting another trail. It will pass by the Refugio river that will be crossed on boat to continue to the Metalqui river (río Metalqui), opposite to the island with the same name.

At the Chiloé National Park we also find Rustic shelters, located along the excursion trails as means of support for visitors going along the trail.

1. Anay River Shelter : It’s located on the south bank of the Anay river, and it has a capacity for 10 persons and a cooking area.

2. Cole-Cole Shelter : It’s located on the bank of the Cole-Cole river and has a capacity of 15 persons, has well equipped facilities with a stove for preparing food.

3. Refugio River Shelter : It’s located on the bank of the Refugio river and it has a capacity for 10 persons. It counts with a cooking area.

4. Abato River’s Mouth Shelter : It’s located on a land contiguous to the Abato river’s mouth and has a capacity for 10 personas. It counts with a cooking area.

Within the Chiloé National Park there’s no lodging, however in the locality of Cucao, a town by the Administrative sector, there are persons who provide this service in their houses all year round.

Leisure activities may be held at the Chiloé National Park such as boat trips during summer time as a service of the Acampar Chanquín area; in the future there may be boats for rent at Cucao lake. Horse riding can also be done; at the Park there’s no horse rental service, but you can get one outside de Unity in order to travel along the Park.

** Information related to Hours, Rates and Dates might change without any previous notice **