Deep Forests and dramatic coastlines towered by volcanoes
The Michinmahuida and Chaitén volcanoes tower over the landscape of Pumalín Douglas Tompkins National Park. Many waterfalls cascade down from glaciers, falling over steep granite walls. The deep forests reach all the way to the fjords, creating dramatic coastlines.
The park’s most notable characteristic is the threatened Alerce (Fitzroya) tree – one of the oldest trees of the world. Most of Chile’s remaining Alerces can be found in the Pumalín Douglas Tompkins National Park. The Park is rich in flora, with many endemic species and subspecies like Luma, Tepa, Canelo, Tineo, Tiaca, Coigüe, Ulmo, Olivo, Mañío and Notro trees. The evergreen broad-leaved forest, known in Chile as the Valdivian temperate rain forest, includes thousands of plant species.
This national park is part of the Southern Andes Temperate Rainforest Biosphere Reserve, declared by UNESCO in September 2007, because of its great biodiversity of global importance, given that it represents two biogeographic regions: the southern Andean province and the Valdivian forest province.
This park has a total area of approximately 402,392 hectares, of which 293,338 hectares were donated by Tompkins Conservation to the Chilean government in 2018. It is located in the municipalities of Cochamó (21,810 ha), Hualaihué (118,972 ha), Chaitén (250,752 ha) and Palena (10,857 ha) in the provinces of Llanquihue and Palena, Los Lagos Region.
Route of Parks of Patagonia
Pumalín Douglas Tompkins National Park is part of Chile’s scenic 2,800-km (1,700-mi) “Route of Parks of Patagonia” that stretches from Puerto Montt in the north to Cape Horn in the south. Spanning 17 national parks, the Route of Parks encompasses one-third of Chile and protects over 11.8 million hectares (28 million acres).
More information about the Tompkins Conservation: tompkinsconservation.org
Visit the Pumalín National Park
With Andes Nativa you can visit the park in an epic 8 days hiking tour: a true hiker’s paradise. See more information here: Pumalín Douglas Tompkins National Park and Yelcho Glacier Tour
