Laguna del Laja National Park

A National Park Around Volcan Antuco And The Laguna Del Laja, With Black Lava Fields, The Glaciers Of The Sierra Velluda And The Salto De Las Chilcas Waterfalls · Antuco, Biobio

Laguna del Laja National Park lies in the Andes of the Biobio region, east of Los Angeles, and protects a stark volcanic landscape around Volcan Antuco, a symmetrical cone whose lava flows once dammed the Rio Laja and created the Laguna del Laja, the largest lake in the area, set among black lava and pale pumice. Across the valley rises the Sierra Velluda, a jagged, glaciated massif, and between them trails lead across the lava fields, past the Salto de las Chilcas and Salto del Torbellino waterfalls where the river emerges from beneath the rock, and up towards the volcano's summit. Araucaria and cypress survive in pockets, condors circle the ridges, and mountain viscachas and culpeo foxes live among the rocks and lava. The park is also a place of memory: in 2005 dozens of young army conscripts died in a blizzard on Antuco during a training march, and memorials stand in the park. It is quiet, starkly beautiful and little visited by foreigners, and the famous Salto del Laja waterfalls are on the way from the highway.

Camino a Laguna del Laja, Antuco, Biobio, Antuco, Biobio, Chile

The park is open all year in daylight; winter snow closes the upper road and trails, when a small ski area can operate on Antuco. Summer is the main season for hiking. Ranger posts keep daytime hours.

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