Chilean national parks
Chile is one of the most ecologically diverse countries in the world – no other country is as elongated but narrow as Chile. Desert, glaciers, volcanoes, fjords or mountains, almost all Chilean national parks contain at least one of these landscapes. As of 2024, there are 42 national parks in Chile.
National parks are maintained by CONAF, or the National Forest Corporation (Corporación Nacional Forestal). Up-to-date information on parks, including fees and permits, can be found on conaf.cl. The official website is in Spanish only; English translations are not provided, even in documents (except in some headings) – you will need to do the translations yourself if you do not speak Spanish.
Many national parks will require you to pay a fee. The fee isn't an exorbitant amount of money (rarely above 50,000 pesos), but they are usually higher for foreigners than Chilean citizens. Up-to-date fees can be found on the CONAF website.
Destinations
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This list of national parks have been categorized into the regions which are used by Wikivoyage with the regions listed from north to south (individual parks are listed alphabetically). Parks on Juan Fernandez Islands and Easter Island are listed under #Other.
As of 2024, no national park is a 
UNESCO World Heritage Site for its natural values. Many of them have been on the tentative list, some for a few decades; these parks are marked with a "(T)". However, many national parks are on the UNESCO World Network of Biosphere Reserves. UNESCO Biosphere reserves are marked with a "(B)".
Northern Chile
[edit]Northern Chile is mostly characterized by the Atacama Desert – but unlike most deserts around the world, the Atacama Desert is one of the few high-elevation deserts – resulting in a nice blend of desert landscapes blended in with dry (sometimes icy) mountain landscapes.
- 1 Bosque de Fray Jorge National Park
(B) – a small national park close to central Chile. It is one of the few places where you can find forests in northern Chile (even though it only covers 4% of the park), with subtropical vegetation. - 2 Lauca National Park (B) – characterized by snow-capped volcanoes and many Andrean animals, including alpacas, llamas, flamingoes and condors. It is also one of the more easily accessible national parks with several paved road entrances.
- 3 Llanos de Challe National Park – known for lomas or fog/mist oases as it is known in English, which are fog-watered vegetation stretching from this part of Chile to Peru. This happens to be one of the more southerly locations where it is found.
- 4 Llullaillaco National Park – home to Llullaillaco, the second-highest volcano in the world. It is road-accessible, but it is still somewhat difficult to access nonetheless; its relative inaccessibility is also what draws mountaineering groups towards hiking the volcano.
- 5 Morro Moreno National Park (es) – a very small coastal national park very close to Antofagasta, home to some of the most amazing sunsets in the country.
- 6 Nevado Tres Cruces National Park – contains the typical landscape of the Atacama Desert and is in the vicinity of Ojos del Salado, the world's highest volcano. If you're lucky, you may be able to spot Andean flamingoes at Laguna Santa Rosa.
- 7 Pan de Azúcar National Park (fr) – there aren't many places where you can see very desert dry coastal landscapes, but this place is one of them. There is an offshore island, Isla Pan de Azúcar, where many humboldt penguins breed; boat tours often get close to it but you can't step foot on the island.
- 8 Salar del Huasco National Park – the centerpiece for the Atacama Desert's salt flats and marshes. It's believed that there is a faultline directly to the west of the salt lake.
- 9 Volcán Isluga National Park – another Andean national park with mostly dry vegetation, named after Isluga, a stratovolcano within the park. You will be able to find plenty of cacti and queñoas within this park.
Central Chile
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Unsurprisingly, there are only 4 parks in Central Chile, given it is the smallest of the four regions in Chile proper.
The national parks in Central Chile tend to also be much smaller than parks found in the rest of the country. Despite being closer to the country's main port of entries, they're not the most visited national parks with only Radal Siete Tazas National Park even being considered on many travellers' radars.
- 1 La Campana National Park (B) – although a very small national park, it contains one of Chile's last palm forests. It is a UNESCO biosphere reserve along with Lago Peñuelas National Reserve.
- 2 Las Palmas de Cocalán National Park – similar to La Campana National Park but is much smaller.
- 3 Radal Siete Tazas National Park – Central Chile's most visited national park for its endless supply of natural pools, waterfalls and cascades. Particularly known for Colmillo del Diablo, a rather scenic valley.
- 4 Río Clarillo National Park – directly to the southeast of Santiago.
Southern Chile
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Most of southern Chile's national parks are temperate. Chile is known for its wild desert landscapes in the Atacama Desert of northern Chile and its Patagonian mountains, but the national parks in southern Chile form the bridge between the two.
Many parks in southern Chile are part of the Bosques Templados Lluviosos de los Andes Australes UNESCO biosphere reserve. The main exception is Laguna del Laja National Park, which is part of its own biosphere reserve.
- 1 Alerce Andino National Park (B) – home to about 50 different lakes and natural ponds, surrounded by an estuary to its east and south and a sound to its west.
- 2 Alerce Costero National Park – known for its Fitzroya forests.
- 3 Chiloé National Park – home to some impressive-looking Valdivian forests and is one of the key highlights of Chiloé Island.
- 4 Conguillío National Park (B) (de) – home to extensive forests and many small lakes. Its main highlight is the Llaima volcano, which is surrounded by humid lava flows and a haven for the local vegetation.
- 5 Corcovado National Park – also home to many Valdivian temperate forests and over 80 lakes and is home to the prestine snow-capped Yate volcano.
- 6 Hornopirén National Park (B) – home to many Valdivian temperate rainforests and many glacier-carved mountains, cliffs and valleys. Many of the park's lakes also have a distinctive green and blue hue.
- 7 Huerquehue National Park – although small, it is known for Araucaria, a tree that looks very similar to those found on Socotra. If you are lucky, you may also be able to spot pudus, which is the world's smallest species of deer.
- 8 Laguna del Laja National Park (B) – this park contains a very typical blend Patagonian and southern Chilean landscapes. Its main highlights are the Antuco Volcano, Sierra Velluda and Laguna del Laja, but the winter landscapes should explain it all.
- 9 Nahuelbuta National Park – known for its monkey puzzle trees, some of which date to over 2,000 years.
- 10 Puyehue National Park (B) – the country's most visited national park with over 400,000 visitors per year (a lot from a local context), home to many thermal springs, volcanoes and evergreen forests.
- 11 Tolhuaca National Park – unsurprisingly, its main highlight is the volcano of the same name, Tolhuaca volcano.
- 12 Vicente Pérez Rosales National Park (B) – established in 1926, this is Chile's oldest national park, home to the Petrohué Waterfalls with an amazing mountain backdrop (and it's that way as the mountains of Osorno, Puntiagudo and Tronador receive year-round snow).
- 13 Villarrica National Park (B) – home to three volcanoes which form the centerpiece of the park.
Patagonia
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This part of Chile is home to some of Chile's largest, most beautiful and jaw-dropping parks; however, they are also home to some of the most inaccessible parks in the country, many of which can only be accessed by boat or by helicopter.
Some of the country's most well-reknowned parks are found in Patagonia – including Torres del Paine, Bernardo O'Higgins and Cape Horn. High-elevation snow-capped mountains, vast fjords and glaciers characterize much of Patagonia's national parks.
- 1 Alberto de Agostini National Park – steep fjords, long glaciers and stunning mountains characterise one of the more southerly parks of Patagonia. It's very secluded, only being accessible by ship.
- 2 Bernardo O'Higgins National Park (T) – Chile's largest national park, home to the largest glaciated icefield outside the poles and Greenland. Despite being the largest national park, it is also one of the most well-secluded national parks, only being accessible by boat or helicopter.
- 3 Cabo de Hornos National Park (B) – the world's southernmost national park, most notably known for Cape Horn (Cabo de Hornos), which has historically been one of the most important sailing points in the world.
- 4 Cerro Castillo National Park – home to Cerro Castillo (lit. Castle Hill), the highlight of the park, in addition to its diverse range of wildlife including pumas, guanaco, Patagonian chingues and red foxes.
- 5 Isla Guamblin National Park – an uninhabited important birding area. Although it is an island, the rough nature of the seas mean that it is very difficult to visit Guamblin Island by boat due to the difficulty of mooring the boat.
- 6 Isla Magdalena National Park – a 1,576-km²-island with the only piece of infrastructure being a small fishing cove; fully pristine outside of that.
- 7 Kawésqar National Park – Chile's second-largest national park after Bernardo O'Higgins National Park. It is named in honor of the Kawésqar peoples who arrived in this area 7000 years ago. The park is home to many but low mountains, none of which exceed 1000 m in elevation; the area around the park is very tectonically active and is home to very powerful glaciers.
- 8 Laguna San Rafael National Park (B) – Chile's third-largest national park is most well-known for the San Rafael Glacier, one of the largest glaciers in the region. Unfortunately, climate change has resulted in a the glacier's treat since 1991 but large portions of the glacier are still boat-accessible to enjoy.
- 9 Melimoyu National Park – one of Patagonia's relatively newer national parks having only been established in 2018 to protect the many waterways of this region. It's so desolate that it like some other national parks in Patagonia, are only ferry-accessible and have zero park rangers.
- 10 Pali-Aike National Park (T) – while this park may be Patagonia's least mountainous park, this small park holds rocky formations in 1000-year-old laval and archaeological sites, including petroglyphs, rock carvings and tools dating back to over 11,000 years.
- 11 Patagonia National Park – established on what was previously sheep ranches, the fences have been removed and this semi-arid park has been retaken by nature.
- 12 Queulat National Park – while initially explored to find the City of the Caesars in the 18th-century, this park like many others in Patagonia are home to Andean mountains and glaciers.
- 13 Torres del Paine National Park (B; T) – the most well-known Chilean national park, world-famed for the Towers of Paine. Despite its remoteness, it is one of the few parks that are easily road-accessible with many lookouts and hiking trails easily accessible by road.
- 14 Yendegaia National Park – Tierra del Fuego's other mountainous national park, established during the country's bicentennary. It protects Gondwana sub-Antarctic beech forest, one of the last of its kind outside the eastern four states of Australia and New Zealand.
Other
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Chile has two national parks that aren't part of Chile proper: one is on Easter Island, home to Moai statues, while the other is part of the Juan Fernández Archipelago.
- 1 Archipiélago de Juan Fernández National Park (B; T) – a small island archipelago with many rugged mountains, rolling hills and many endemic plants and wildlife, with this national park being one of the main highlights of the Juan Fernández Islands.
- 2 Rapa Nui National Park – you've heard of Easter Island before, and you likely know what it's known for (Moai statues), but those Moai statues lie in this park; you can't visit Easter Island and not come to Rapa Nui National Park.
See also
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