Pumalín Douglas Tompkins National Park

Pumalín (or Parque Nacional Pumalín Douglas Tompkins to give it its full name) is one of Chile’s most beautiful national parks. It completely bisects the country, stretching across 994,332 acres (317,00 hectares) from the northern fjords across to the Argentinian border, with the Carretera Austral highway running along its western edge.

Most of the park is covered with verdant temperate rainforest. Moist Pacific air makes everything green: as much as four metres of rain falls here every year. Pumalín’s signature species is the mighty alerce tree, along with the lenga or southern beech. A quarter of all Chile’s alerces are found here – some of them as here are a towering 3000 years old, but when hiking to them there’s as much pleasure to be had in examining the rich ecosystems that thrive around them. Every patch of ground seems covered in mosses, ferns or buzzes with hummingbirds feeding from fuschias. This is a real biodiversity hotspot: half of all the plant species here are found nowhere else on earth

Much of the park is highly mountainous, with steep trails leading to the snow line or to the craters of volcanoes.

Pumalín is split into a north (norte) and south (sur) sectors. The south is the main area of hiking, while the north has no roads and can only be accessed by boat or on a sea kayak trip.

Pumalín is a hiker’s paradise: you could easily spend several days exploring the trails here without backtracking.

A real must is the Alerce Trail to one of the oldest known trees in the world – an alerce that has been growing for around 3000 years. It’s a short walk easily accessible to those even on a self-drive trip through the park, but watch out for neck strain as you look up.

One of the most spectacular walks is the Chaitén Volcano Hike to the caldera of the volcano that laid waste to swathes of the park in 2008. Pumice and obsidian from the eruption are clearly visible on the ascent. The trail is well-marked and easy to follow – expect to see lots of flowers and hummingbirds as you walk through the open forest, and then spectacular vistas when you climb above the treeline to out down to distant Chaitén town.

Some of the most impressive waterfalls and plunge pools are to be found on the Cascadas Escondidas Trail. This is all about nature putting on a wild show, following a trail through lush overgrown forest. Be prepared for steep and sometimes muddy descents here, though the scenery is more than worth it. The Cascadas Trail is a simpler hike on boardwalks, leading straight out of Caleta Gonzalo.

Longer day hikes include the short  Darwin’s Frog Trail with interpretation about ecosystem regeneration and the Hanging Glacier Trail to Volcán Michinmahuida. 

Combine breath-taking scenery, sea lion colonies and waterfalls plunging directly into the sea by kayaking through Pumalín Norte. Access to this part of the park is entirely from the water.

Kayak trips leave from Puerto Varas with four days needed to access the best of the fjords. The added bonus of kayaking in Pumalín Norte is that you will spend at least one night camping next to natural thermal springs - a lovely way to relax your weary muscles after a day of paddling.

Kayaking in Pumalín is best enjoyed by people with some kayaking experience as some parts are exposed to the open sea. For novices, we recommend taking on the two-day kayaking options on the more protected (but equally dramatic) Reloncaví Fjord just a little further north.

Most visitors to Pumalín base themselves at Caleta Gonzalo in the northern part of Pumalín Sur. The Caleta Gonzalo Lodge is home to a series of simple but very cosy wooden cabins with balconies tucked into the forest and looking out over the fjords, allowing you to wake to the sound of birdsong and watch dolphins from your bed. Home-cooked food is served in the restaurant, with vegetables grown in the lodge’s garden. The lodge backs straight onto the Cascadas Trail, making it a perfect place for hikers.

There is very basic accommodation available in Chaitén, but if you prefer to rough it we would suggest instead to head straight into the park and stay at one of the seven superb campsites in the park. These have well-maintained facilities including shower blocks and kitchen areas. Wild camping is not permitted inside the camp.

The best way to get to Pumalín is by air. There are daily flights (50 minutes) to Chaitén (code WCH) from La Paloma Aerodrome (code SCPF) in Puerto Montt. It’s important to note that this is separate from Puerto Montt’s main Tepual airport (code PMC).

Pumalín is considered the traditional starting point of the Carretera Austral, starting at Caleta Gonzalo and bisecting the park as it runs south. The region's main transport hub is at Chaitén, 56km south of Caleta Gonzalo, and 420km north of Coyhaique in Aysen.

There is a daily car ferry service between Hornopirén (for Puerto Montt and Puerto Varas) to Caleta Gonzalo (twice a day in high season), taking around six hours. Chaitén also has car ferry services several times a week to Puerto Montt (nine hours) and to Castro on Chiloé island (five hours).

Pumalín Norte is not accessible by road and can only really be reached by boat – including multi-day kayak trips that start from Puerto Varas.