Torres del Paine Winter Adventure

Day 1: Arrive in Torres del Paine & hike to Pehoe Lake

Your private transfer will pick you up early in the morning from your hotel in Puerto Natales and drive you to Torres del Paine National Park’s administration area, where our first hike will begin.

This is a 6-hour hike along Las Carretas trail to the shores of Pehoe Lake, tucked at the base of the Paine Massif. The Grey River will accompany us along the way and we’ll have a picnic lunch before arriving at our Refugio.

Once there, you’ll settle into your dorm before meeting again for dinner.

Transfer: 2 hours

Length of hike: 6 hours, 16 km

Meals: Box lunch, dinner

Accommodation: Refugio Paine Grande

Day 2: Round trip hike to Grey Glacier

Today, our destination is Grey Glacier: a stirringly beautiful ice giant ending abruptly in the glacial lake of the same name. We’ll set out early, ascending 200 metres on the winding path that takes us to Laguna Negra.

Here, we’ll see sections of the massive Southern Patagonian Ice Field, a geological phenomenon that still guards many unexplored sections. You’ll continue on to Grey Glacier’s lookout point, passing forests and rivers, with possible sightings of the spectacled and flying steamer ducks that call them home.

We’ll have lunch at the lookout with the mammoth Grey Glacier at our feet, and might be lucky enough to catch sight of ice calving from its huge walls into the freezing waters.

We return along the same path, accompanied by views of Paine Grande and the muscled granite walls of Cordon Olguín, to our Refugio where we’ll spend a second night.

Length of hike: 8 hours, 22 km

Meals: Breakfast, box lunch, dinner

Accommodation: Refugio Paine Grande

Day 3: Round trip hike to the French Valley

Today’s hike is a challenging trek to the heart of the Paine massif. Our destination, the French Valley, is a spectacular natural basin surrounded by peaks and hanging glaciers.

After breakfast we’ll set off on a 2-hour hike through firebush and beech forests to the suspension bridge over the French River. At the entrance to the valley - a glacial moraine - you’ll scramble over huge boulders and catch the first sight of the hanging glacier atop the valley.

From this point, you’ll ascend for an hour through a dreamlike Japanese garden landscape before arriving at the French Valley viewpoint (the “Plateau”). Your reward is a heart-stirring bird’s eye view of granite peaks and hanging glaciers. To one side, the French Glacier and Paine Grande (3050 m); while to the other, La Espada, La Hoja, La Máscara and the main and north “horns” of Los Cuernos arch upwards. In the upper section of the Valley, Cerro Catedral and Cerro Fortaleza loom like turrets above the landscape.

We’ll have lunch at the viewpoint, surrounded by these imposing peaks and open skies, then return to our Refugio via the same route for our final night there.

Length of hike: 7-8 hours, 18 km

Meals: Breakfast, box lunch, dinner

Accommodation: Refugio Paine Grande

Day 4: Return hike via Las Carretas trail - Transfer to Serrano Area

Today we’ll make our way across the park, hiking the Las Carretas trail to the park’s administration area. Here, we take our transfer to Rio Serrano where we’ll stay the night in a cosy cabin located in the Rio Serrano Sector.

Transfer: 10 mins

Length of hike: 5-6 hours, 16 km

Meals: Breakfast, box lunch, dinner

Accommodation: Refugio Vista Paine

Day 5: Round trip hike to Las Torres lookout point & transfer back to Puerto Natales

In the morning, we take a transfer to Las Torres area to begin our hike to the three Towers base. The trail takes us through incredible deciduous beech forests, with views of glaciers and waterfalls.

Our journey continues as we ascend a huge terminal moraine up to a viewpoint (900m) with excellent photo opportunities. From here we will be surrounded by three giant granite towers (2850m) and a lagoon fed by waters from glacial erosion. We will enjoy lunch in front of this breathtaking scenery.

We will then descend, following the same path down to the estancia Las Torres, located at the mountain's plateau, where we will take a transfer back to Puerto Natales.

Transfer: 1.5 hours

Length of hike: 8-10 hours, 22 km

Meals: Breakfast, box lunch