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Sur Chico

Hence begins the Chilean south. The regions of La Araucanía, Los Ríos and the Lakes District jar travelers with menacing ice-topped volcanoes, glacial lakes overflowing with what looks like melted jade, roaring rivers running through old-growth forests and coastal enclaves inhabited by the indomitable Mapuche people. Sur Chico is home to eight spectacular national parks, many harboring exquisitely conical volcanoes, and is a magnetic draw for outdoor-adventure enthusiasts and devil-may-care thrill seekers.

Peppered about sprawling workhorse travel hubs, you'll find well-developed lakeside hamlets, most notably Pucón and Puerto Varas, dripping in charm and draped by stunning national parks and nature reserves, each one like an Ansel Adams photograph leaping from the frame. But the region – call it Patagonia Lite – isn't all so perfectly packaged. Off-the-beaten path destinations like the Río Cochamó Valley and Caleta Cóndor reward the intrepid spectacularly, their isolation fodder for that ever-elusive travel nirvana.

Top attractions

These are our favorite local haunts, touristy spots, and hidden gems throughout Sur Chico.

  • National Park

    Parque Nacional Conguillío

    The 3125m Volcán Llaima, one of Chile's most active volcanoes, forms the focal point of Parque Nacional Conguillío and the Unesco Biosphere Reserve in which its included, a magnificent and otherworldly national park, created in 1950 primarily to preserve the araucaria (monkey puzzle tree) and 608 sq km of alpine lakes, deep canyons and native forests. Llaima, which means ‘Blood Veins’ in Mapudungun, has quite the habit of firespitting, violently erupting 35 times since 1640.

  • Nature Reserve

    Reserva Nacional Malalcahuello-Nalcas

    Serving up one of the most dramatic landscapes in all of Sur Chico and easily the jewel of northern Araucanía’s protected reserves, the 303 sq km Reserva Nacional Malalcahuello-Nalcas is a combined reserve just north of the small hamlet of Malalcahuello. An ashy desertscape of sand and cinders not unlike how we all imagine Mars, the reserve protects an otherworldly atmosphere of singed landscape surrounding Cráter Navidad, formed on Christmas Day 1988 when Volcán Lonquimay blew its top.

  • Arts Center

    Teatro del Lago

    This amazing 12-years-in-the-making, US$25-million world-class performing-arts center opened in 2010, and has single-handedly put Frutillar on the global cultural map. The striking copper-roofed structure is a thing of beauty in itself, flanked against the lake with postcard views of four volcanoes. Daily 45-minute tours start at noon throughout the year (CH$4500).

  • Nature Reserve

    Huilo-Huilo Biological Reserve

    This conservation project, begun in 2000, encompasses 1000 sq km of private land that has been developed for low-impact ecotourism and falls within a much larger Unesco biosphere reserve. There is a wealth of excursions and a bevy of lodging for all budgets, including five spectacularly insane and surreal hotels.

  • National Park

    Parque Nacional Villarrica

    Towering over the adventure capital of Pucón, Volcán Villarica is the centerpiece of Parque Nacional Villarrica, one of the most popular parks in Chile. Highlights of the 630-sq-km park are the three volcanoes: the aforementioned Villarrica (2847m) – which erupted briefly but spectacularly in March 2015; Quetrupillán (2360m); and, along the Argentine border, a section of Lanín (3747m).

  • Nature Preserve

    Territorio Mapa Lahual

    Territorio Mapa Lahual protects some 60,000 hectares of mature forest and indigenous territories south of San Juan de la Costa and into Río Negro province. It began after a decade of sustainable tourism research by the World Wildlife Fund (WWF), which prompted these off-the-beaten-path communities to welcome etnoturismo as a way to earn a proud living. You'll find postcard-perfect bays and beaches along the coast as well as Valdivian forest treks and rural Huilliche homestays inland.

  • National Park

    Parque Nacional Huerquehue

    The 125-sq-km preserve, founded in 1912, is a little wonderland of waterfalls, alpine lakes and araucaria forests and the creatures that traverse them, including the pudú (the world’s smallest deer) and arañas pollitos (tarantula-like spiders that come out in the fall. Well-maintained and marked trails invite multiple days of exploration and Refugio Tinquilco, one of Sur Chico's loveliest lodges, beckons overnight stays, but a day trip from Pucón, about 35km to the southeast, is obligatory for the more hurried set.

  • National Park

    Parque Nacional Puyehue

    Parque Nacional Puyehue protects 1070 sq km of stark landscape defined by sand dunes and lava rivers, the result of Volcán Puyehue's 1960 eruption that turned a dense, humid evergreen forest into an otherworldly contrasting environment forge by Mother Nature's might. There are also several hikes that explore more pristine areas of the national park. Aguas Calientes is the main sector of the park, with a hot-springs resort and Conaf’s Centro de Información Ambiental.

  • Museum

    Museo de Volcanes

    The stone-domed Museo de Volcanes is Sur Chico's most impressive archeological museum, covering Chilean indigenous cultures, including one of the best Mapuche ornament collections in existence, an impressive lantern, padlock and iron collection, a re-creation of the 2010 Copiapó mine rescue and a pre-historic mastodon tusk, which they claim is one of only four in the world.