Carretera Austral, Aysen,
North to South Destinations, Sector 2

Introduction

The southern part of the Carretera Austral starts at Coyhaique, in the Aysen Region of Chile and continues south for 571km until it reaches the smallest of villages called Villa O’Higgins.

This entire sector of the Carretera Austral passes through some of the remotest areas on Earth, and with that, some of the most inspiring, natural and dramatic scenery too.

The Aysen Fjords and Channels

The Aysen sector of the Carretera Austral includes one of the largest expanses of channels and fiords on Earth. In a straight line, start to end, it covers 1,000km, however, the total coastline of the numerous islands, inlets and fjords, if measured and added together, would be more than 84,000km.

If you had the patience to count, there are over 5,500 islands in this part of Chilean Patagonia, the vast majority totally uninhabited by man.

This incredible archipelago, fiords and valleys were crafted from numerous ice ages. Constant snow falls created huge glaciers that slowly came down from the mountains carving out the rock as they did so and leaving behind valleys. Think of Antarctica today, with its ice shelf measuring kms in height!

Then, added to this mix was the shifting of the tectonic plates that caused land to go up, but also down; volcanic eruptions, and flooding from the Pacific Ocean into the lower land areas.

And, if that was not enough, the receding glaciers and snow melted to form rivers and lakes, together with abundant rainfall creating numerous more rivers all flowing quickly into the sea.

This combination has resulted in, today, a beautiful ecosystem and dramatic landscape, full of natural richness.