This appropriately named reserve (meaning "heart of the island") has a wide range of hikes through the Tolhuin forests. A glorious 90-minute drive through the Tierra del Fuego farmland leads to insightful history-themed walks, while the more adventurous can scale small mountains and even climb through the Andes all the way to the Lago Fagnano shores.
Camino de la Ruca
Those looking for a small, accessible window into Tolhuin’s logging past and present can complete the Camino de la Ruca, a 30-minute, low-difficulty trek through a forest filled with birdsong to a conical wooden lodge built by the Selk’nam. The loggers, who often spent weeks in remote areas chopping trees, used it to shelter from the elements.
Lakes Yehuin, Yakush & Chepelmut
Two lakes within the reserve, Yehuin and Chepelmut, are hot spots for sportfishing and canoeing enthusiasts, and can be reached via a rightward detour on the reserve’s internal road. Yakush is not accessible by car, but a low-difficulty, 4km round-trip hike will get you there.
Cerro Atukoyak & Lago Fagnano
The two best-known trails start at the visitor information center, COVA Atukoyak, named after the 600m-tall Cerro Atukoyak (or Cerro Pirámide) that overlooks the reserve. A medium-difficulty, 7km trail leads to the hill's summit through dense forest. More epic is the medium- to high-difficulty 12km trek that ascends and eventually descends in between lenga and ñire trees towards the unspoiled northern shores of Lago Fagnano.
