Chile's Forest, Lake and Glacier Parks, From the Santiago Foothills to the Beagle Channel

Río Clarillo lies about 45 kilometers southeast of Santiago near Pirque and was established in 1982, so the path begins within reach of the capital. It protects native central Chilean flora and fauna in Andean foothill terrain, including stands of the Cordilleran cypress.

Moving south into the Maule Region, this park was reclassified from a national reserve to a national park in 2008. Its best known feature is the Siete Tazas, seven linked pools and waterfalls cut into the Claro River, which the February 27, 2010 earthquake drained into an aquifer.

Established in 1958 in the Bio Bio Region, this park rises from about 976 to 3,585 meters around the Antuco Volcano, the Sierra Velluda range and the lake that gives it its name. Its forest holds araucaria and cordilleran cypress.

Created in 1939 on top of the Cordillera de Nahuelbuta in the Araucanía Region, this is the oldest park on the path. It shelters ancient araucaria trees, some dating back 2,000 years, and its Mapuche name means big tiger.

East of Pucón, this park has been protected since June 9, 1967 and covers about 125 square kilometers. Araucaria forest, now a vulnerable species, surrounds some twenty lakes and lagoons including Tinquilco Lake.

Established in 1941 and expanded in 1950 and 1981, Puyehue now covers about 1,070 square kilometers around the Puyehue volcano. It has long been the most visited national park in Chile, known for hot springs reaching about 42 degrees Celsius, and it is part of the Temperate Rainy Forest Biosphere Reserve of the Southern Andes.

Founded on November 22, 1982 near Puerto Montt, this park protects roughly 200 square kilometers of ancient alerce forest, one of the longest lived tree species known. The forest surrounds about 50 lakes and ponds and shelters the pudu and the monito del monte.

Established in 1988 in Palena Province, Hornopirén borders the northern part of Pumalín Park. Its rainforest holds about 97 square kilometers of alerce, and about 30 square kilometers of glacier ice sit near the Hornopirén and Yate volcanoes.

In the Aysén Region, Queulat was established in 1983 and receives up to 4,000 millimeters of rain a year. Its centerpiece is the Queulat Hanging Glacier, part of an ice cap of about 80 square kilometers, which feeds the Ventisquero Colgante waterfall.

South of Coyhaique, a national reserve protected since 1970 became a national park in 2018 through an agreement involving President Michelle Bachelet and Tompkins Conservation. The Carretera Austral runs through it, and it forms part of the National Huemul Corridor, a rewilding partnership between Rewilding Chile and CONAF.

Established on October 23, 1970 near Punta Arenas, Pali Aike takes a Tehuelche name meaning desolate place. It covers about 5,030 hectares of volcanic field, and human remains and stone tools there date to about 11,000 years before the present, among the oldest evidence of human occupation in South America.

The path ends in the Magallanes Region at a park established on January 22, 1965 and covering about 1,460,000 hectares. It includes the Cordillera Darwin, the last land based stretch of the Andes before the range breaks into islands descending toward the Beagle Channel, and it became a UNESCO Biosphere Reserve in 2005 together with Cabo de Hornos National Park.