Introduction

Located: 109km South from Puerto Montt (via the ferry crossing, but 237km by road only from Puerto Varas, via Puelo village)

Hornopiren is a tiny, “sleepy” village nestled on the edge of the Hornopiren National Park. Accommodation here is basic and rustic. This village is a good place to stay if you wish to explore the Park as well as being the point of departure for the ferry that links the Carretera Austral to Caleta Gonzalo.

What’s Here?

There is the Hornopiren National Park, containing the Hornopiren volcano at 1,572m, and the waterfalls of the River Negro. If you are able, and have the time, there are the natural hot springs of Cahuelmo, Porcelana, Pichicolo and if you can get on a boat there is Llancahue hot springs located on an island in the fiord.

However, in short, the village is surrounded by natural, native forest on steep mountain sides, and at the tip of the Comau fiord.

Parque Nacional Hornopiren

Hornopirén National Park, “snow oven” in Mapudungún, forms part of the regional ecosystem of evergreen temperate rainforests. It is known for its rich biodiversity, high levels of endemic species, and thousands-of-years-old trees. This park is part of the World Biosphere Reserve of Temperate Rainforests of the Austral Andes. It features nearly 22,240 acres of Alerce trees. The Hornopirén Volcano, although not within park limits, crowns this landscape of mountain valleys sculpted by snowdrifts, lakes, lagoons, and rivers such as the Puelo Chico, the Ventisquero, and the Blanco, which flows into the Comau Fjord, in Huailahué.