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Villarrica Traverse

Villarrica National Park, Chile

This is a page with tips for those who want to do the Villarrica Traverse, being a complement to the book The Most Beautiful Trails of Patagonia. In this page you can see some photos and the list of trails that are part of the book. To purchase your book, send your zip code and country to livros@ricardoferes.com or WhatsApp +55 11 99314-3211 and I will send you the total cost, including shipping.

Days: 5
Distance: 78 km / 48.4 mi
Total ascent: 4,265 m / 13,993 ft
Download tracklog at Wikiloc

Best season
From January to March the trail is completely snow-free, the climate is drier and the vegetation is more beautiful, with many flowers.

How to get there
The base city for this traverse is Pucón, which has excellent tourism infrastructure, including airport. From Pucón to the ski center, where the trail starts, you need to take a taxi or one of the many shuttle vans that take tourists to the beginning of the ascent to Villarrica Volcano crater. If taking a taxi, confirm that it will drop you off at the ski center, not at CONAF office, otherwise you will have to walk 8 km (5 mi) uphill until the trail starts.

The traverse ends on road 199 (Camino Internacional), but buses do not reach this place, so you need to pre-arrange with a taxi / tourism agency or ask for a ride to Puesco, where you can take a bus back to Pucón.

Costs
National park fee: Ch $ 7,000 for adult foreigners and Ch $ 3,500 for foreigners between 12 and 17 years old.

Free campsites.

Where to eat, sleep and trail marking
There are signs along the trail but not in all places. It is usually well marked due to the large flow of people but it is necessary to be very careful to follow the correct path, especially when there is fog. Anyway, don’t go without a map and / or GPS.

It is necessary to bring food and all equipment for wild camping, there are no supply points or shelters.

Day by day
Below is a brief description with tips of the route that I like best for this hike, however it can be adapted to your time and endurance.

Before starting the first day, a viable option for those who are very fit is to climb Villarrica and, on the way back (around 14:00), start the traverse. Doing this you can climb to the top of an active volcano and you already have transport until the beginning of the hike. As the days in summer are very long, you still have 6 to 7 hours to walk to, at least, Laguitos de Challupén.

Day 1
Ski center – campsite close to Estero Ñilfe
Distance: 14.1 km / 8.7 mi
Total ascent: 864 m / 2,835 ft

In the first 6 km you will always walk with view to Villarrica, until you enter the araucaria forests, when it is good to keep an eye out for the Magellanic woodpecker, a large woodpecker that can be spotted with reasonable ease.

There is a trail that leads to Voipir Glacier lookout, which will take you in front of the only glacier of the traverse and, if you want to extend the walk a little longer, you can continue until you reach the glacier. As the detour to this lookout is short, I left the track in the tracklog that is available to be downloaded on Wikiloc, but if you don’t want to do it, the normal path is also in the file.

Fill up the water bottles when you find the sign “Water at 30 m”, as it is possible that afterwards you will not find clean water. Do not be fooled by reading reports about Laguitos de Challupén, they are two small lakes with standing water, not recommended for drinking.

After walking around 13 km you will arrive at Estero Ñilfe, where there are some good points to pitch the tent, but it is possible that the stream is dry, so do not count on this water to cook. If you are not tired and want to walk a little further, it is possible to find camping spots later on, shortening a little the second day.

Day 2
Campsite close to Estero Ñilfe – Chinay
Distance: 19.8 km / 12.3 mi
Total ascent: 1,032 m / 3,386 ft

On this day the hike almost always takes place above the tree line, overlooking the ubiquitous Villarrica, Calafquén Lake, the twin volcanoes Choshuenco and Mocho and other landscapes outside the national park.

Just before the start of the descent to the camping area and the road that cuts through the park, there is a short trail that leads to Mirador del Volcanes, which is very used for those who are doing a day walk from Sector Quetrupillán. For those who are doing the entire traverse, Mirador del Volcanes is interesting but, if you are tired, you can leave it behind without feeling guilty, as the view is very similar to the ones before.

If you decided to do the first two sections in just one day, shortly after the end of the descent there is a good camping spot next to the Pichillancahue River, 6 km (3.7 mi) before the official CONAF Chinay camping area.

Day 3
Chinay – Laguna Azul
Distance: 17.5 km / 10.9 mi
Total ascent: 1,673 m / 5,489 ft

The day starts with the most difficult ascent of the traverse but it is also the most beautiful day. At the end of the hike, just before descending to Laguna Azul, leave the trail and go to the edge of the cliff, just above Laguna Azul, to have a view of it with the Villarrica Volcano in the background.

Day 4
Laguna Azul – Laguna Las Avutardas
Distance: 17.4 km / 10.8 mi
Total ascent: 534 m / 1,752 ft

If you can get up early, go up the hill a bit to have a beautiful view of Lanín Volcano during sunrise. By the way, on this day Lanín will be in sight almost all the time.

The hike starts through incredible lava fields and then passes close to Laguna Blanca. If you want to detour a little to see it, go because the distance is small, but it is not a great attraction either.

Then the trail passes through El Fuentón Crater and offers a beautiful view of Quinquilil Volcano and Cerro Las Peinetas.

As it is the section with more water of the traverse, you will see several species of flowers, growing not only in the forest regions, but also in the lava fields.

Day 5
Laguna Las Avutardas – Camino Internacional
Distance: 8.9 km / 5.5 mi
Total ascent: 176 m / 577 ft

The last day is the shortest and the one that offers the least beautiful views, as the path passes almost entirely inside the forest and the attraction is precisely the forest with its many flowers. After a long descent, you will arrive at Camino Internacional and, if you have not set up with an agency to make your rescue, you will need to hitchhike or continue walking for 3.5 km (2.2 mi) to CONAF Guardería in Puesco, to catch a bus. As the hours are very restricted, check with CONAF or Complejo Turistico Puejo (links below).

Useful links