Coihaique National Reserve

Created in 1948, Coihaique National Reserve is one of the oldest units of the Region, has a surface of 2,676 hectares and is situated 3 miles to the northeast of Coihaique.

You can access Coihaique National Reserve, through Coihaique road (camino de Coihaique) to Puerto Aysén and later through a local road, on the South slope of the Cinchao Hill , which maximum altitude is 4.465 feet. The road to Coihaique National Reserve is asphalted until the deflection of access to the Reserve, this one and the inner roads are difficult for vehicles  that lack of  4×4 traction, so as a recommendation we strongly suggest to rent a car special for this road conditions , specially on winter season.

The landscape of Coihaique National Reserve is characterized to display smooth slopes and major mountains as the Cinchao Hill (4.465 feet). From certain height, you can observe in all its extension the city of Coihaique and the Mac-Kay and Divisadero hills. Coihaique National Reserve has numerous lagoons of small size, the largest one of all of them is the Mallines lagoon with a surface of 4.5 hectares; followed by the Verde Lagoon and Los Sapos Lagoon.

Coihaique National Reserve has a relatively dry climate with precipitations of the order of 37,196 ounces annual and average temperatures of 54.5 º Fahrenheit in summer and 40 º Fahrenheit in winter. This allows that can be developed recreational activities, educative, among others, during big part of the year.

Coihaique National Reserve counts on diverse footpaths and circuits for vehicles, those that allow acceding to sites with excellent panoramic views of Coihaique, the lakes and surrounding valleys. Besides, there is an Arboretum in which the main arboreal species of Coihaique National Reserve can be appreciated.

The native vegetation of Coihaique National Reserve is represented by the mixed Forest of common Coigüe and Lenga being the vegetation formation predominant to the one of the Forest Caducifolio of Aysén. In humid sectors appears the Ñire.

There are in Coihaique National Reserve a diversity of exotic species product of reforestations made in the past, with the objective to protect the resource ground, seriously threatened as a result of forest fires that affected mainly to this area in the 50’s; here, stand out by the surface that occupy the Weighty pine (Pino Ponderosa), Twisted pine (Pino Contorta), Wild pine (Pino Silvestre), Oregon pine (Pino Oregón), among others.

At the present time, these species are used for different purposes, as much within Coihaique National Reserve as for the neighboring community of Coihaique. You can also find the chilco, zarzaparrilla, calafate and quila, among others.

Regarding the present fauna in Coihaique National Reserve we may encounter Puma, red Fox (Zorro Colorado), Chingue of the Patagonia and some species introduced as the hare (liebre) and mink (visón). Among the birds, the most abundant birds are the Passeriformes, as Chucao, Zorzal and Tordo, among rapacious are common the Eagle (El Aguila) and the Owl (el Carancho); it is also possible to observe the Woodpecker (Pájaro Carpintero) and the Cachaña.

The activities of main tourist attractive that can be carried out in Coihaique National Reserve are: Fishing, Hiking, natural sighting and horse back riding.

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