Stretching over 181,000 square hectares of rugged Patagonia, Parque Nacional Torres Del Paine, with its contorted peaks of the multi-coloured Los Cuernos, granite spikes of Las Torres and wild windswept valleys one of South America’s most spectacular attractions and the centrepiece of Chile’s national park system. The park offers a huge number of hiking opportunities, with the majority of intrepid explorers heading here to complete multiday treks across the park’s gruelling W and O-circuit trails.
However, you don’t need to hike for days in order to see Torres del Paine’s highlights. There are plenty of shorter trails that allow you to take in mountains, lakes and grasslands as well as the park’s wildlife but still make it back to the comfort of a hotel on an evening, glass of Chilean wine in hand in front of a roaring fireplace.
Getting to Torres Del Paine from Puerto Natales
During the high season from October to April, 5 different bus companies provide daily trips from Puerto Natales to Torres del Paine, stopping first at Laguna Amargh (2hr journey) where you will have to hop of the bus to pay your park entry fee (CH$25,000 for foreigners or CH$35,000 if staying for more than 3 days as of Jan 1 2020; note that this can also be paid at the bus station in Puerto Natales), then onwards to Pudeto (3hrs) where you will leave the bus if you are catching the catamaran to Paine Grande, before finally reaching the administration building (4hrs 15).
Return tickets between the park and Puerto Natales cost CH$15,000. During the high season between September and April, the buses leave Puerto Natales at 7am, 7.30am and 2.30pm, getting to Laguna Amarga at 9am, 9:30am. and 4.45pm respectively and Pudeto at 10:00am, 10.30am and 5.30pm. For the return leg of the journey, buses pick up from Pudeto at 1pm, 1.30pm and 7pm and from Laguna Amarga at 2pm, 2.30pm, 7.45pm each day.
It is worth noting that between the park’s busiest months, Bus Sur also run a 6.40am service that reaches Pudeto at 8.45am, in time for the first catamaran of the day.
Best Day Hikes: East Side of the Park
In the east of the park, there are myriad trails leading around Torres del Paine’s stunning lakes and up to high-altitude viewpoints overlooking the Paine Massif. This section is also home to the park’s most famous attraction, the towering spires of the Torres, which you can reach in a long and challenging day hike.
Mirador Las Torres
Distance: 18km / 7-8 hours
Start & endpoint: Hotel Las Torres
Difficulty: Moderate to difficult
The triple towers, hidden away in the heart of the Paine Massif, are Torres Del Paines most iconic sight. Usually the climax for backpackers hiking the W and O multi-day treks through the park who will rise before dawn in order to see first morning light shimmering the spires that rise above a shimmering turquoise lagoon, they can actually be reached in a day as part of an 8 hour, 18km long hike.
Starting at Hotel Las Torres, you will ramble across open grassland, across burbling glacial streams via hanging bridges and, after one hour, into Valle Ascencio where you will begin your ascent towards the towers. You will gain a fair bit of altitude for the next 3km until you reach the forested surroundings of Refugio Chileno were the trail flattens out for another few meandering kilometres. It is only the last 1.5km of this trail that provides any kind of difficulty when you will have to scramble and climb up boulders and rocks in order to reach the final viewpoint but it is worth it, the beautiful lake and Torres await you at the summit.
Although the hike is manageable in a day, you may want to stay at Hotel Las Torres afterwards in order to avoid missing the last bus back to Puerto Natales. Otherwise, you can always break the trek up across two days, staying at Refugio Chileno which is located approximately at the halfway point, finishing your walk up to the towers the next morning.
Guided tours are available starting and ending in Puerto Natales, including transport to the park. Book here.
The Fauna Trail
Distance: 8km / 2-3 hours
Start & End Point: Lago Sarmiento to Laguna Amarga
Difficulty: Easy
Although known for its jaw-dropping vistas and rugged landscape, Torres Del Paine also offers great wildlife-spotting opportunities: You are likely to catch a glimpse of guanacos – a fluffy camelid not too dissimilar to a llama or alpaca – and rhea as well as foxes, deer and condor. Only a very lucky few will see the elusive puma that call the park their home as they have a tendency to stay well clear of the hiking trails.
The short, 8km long fauna trail gives you the best opportunity to see guanacos, taking you from Porteria Lago Sarmiento to Laguna Amarga in around 2 or 3 hours, although you will likely have to make the return journey in order to get the bus ride back out of the park. This is a fairly off-the-beaten-track trail, and may not appear on many maps of the park, meaning that there will have a good chance of having the entirety of the trail completely to yourself, even during the high season.
Laguna Azul & Salto Paine
Distance: 8km / 2 or 3 hours
Start & end point: Porteria Laguna Azul
Difficulty: Easy
One of the parks easiest and most gentle hikes but one that offers spectacular views is the walk to Laguna Azul, the only place in the park where you see the Torres in their entirety without having to hike for long distances.
Located high up on the eastern edge of the park, Laguna Azul is delightfully off the beaten path. You are more likely to encounter guanacos than other people as most day visitors to the park tend to not venture up this way. The walk itself skirts the edge of Laguna Azul towards Laguna Cebolla offering great views of the Torres in their entirety, beautifully reflected in the turquoise waters of the lake.
Best Day Hikes: West Side of the Park
As the western trails are a little more difficult to reach, often having to take the catamaran over to Paine Grande, they are remote and quiet enough that you may mostly have them to yourself, often only meeting a handful of other hikers. Highlights include the climb up to Mirador Ferrier or the long trek up to a lookout over the Glacier Grey
Glacier Grey
Distance: 24km / 9 hours
Start & endpoint: Paine Grande
Difficulty: Medium
Glacier Grey is one of Torres Del Paines most spectacular sights. The icy ramparts tower as high as 100m in some places and the glacier stretches the entire 6-mile breadth of the lagoon, grey in both name and colour, only brightened by the shimmering turquoise of the glacier and the bobbing icebergs that navigate its waters.
To complete this trek in a day, you will need to start early. From the pier at Paine Grande, the clearly marked path initially leads north through scrubland before meandering into Quebrada de Los Vientos, the windy gorge, after an hour or so (I can confirm that it was very windy when I hiked this path). From here you will catch your first glimpse of Lago Grey with enormous chunks of pale blue ice bobbing in its water with the glacier itself peeking out behind the almost black shape of La Isla Nunatak.
Continuing the walk alongside the lake, you will enter an eerily silent lenga wood. Part of this area was badly damaged by the forest fire that sadly ran rampant through the park on 27th December 2011. The devastating fire only affected 7% (about 40,000 acres) of the park’s area but went on for nine days before it was finally extinguished by the fire brigade. Unfortunately, some of the affected vegetation will take 200 years to reach maturity again, but the charred, contorted remains of the trees do add a haunting, melancholic beauty to the area.
After passing Refugio Grey, a small trail forks off from the main path towards the glacier viewpoint on the shore of Lago Grey (1km walk). If you are attempting this hike in one day, you will need to turn around at this point, however, there is the opportunity to spend the night at Refugio Grey (although this needs to be booked in advance) and continue the trek up the steep, eastern side of the lake for another 1.5 hours to a pair of suspension bridges that offer one of the most spectacular viewpoints in the park, overlooking the entirety of the glacier.
If you take the first ferry of the morning from Pudeto to Paine Grande, you should be able to do the main part of this hike and back in a day, however, I recommend overnighting in Refugio Paine Grande in order to get out early in the morning.
Lago Grey by Boat
If you don’t want to hike to Glacier Grey and would rather see it in comfort from the deck of a boat, a 3 hour boat trip leaves Hotel Lago Grey and travels across the lake, giving you an up close encounter with the enormous wall of ice.
Valle Frances
Distance: 21km / 10 hours
Start & endpoint: Refugio Los Cuernos
Difficulty: Difficult
Making up the middle section of the W Trek, the walk up Valle Frances is one of the most challenging sections of the hike as well as one of the longest day hikes that you can undertake in Torres Del Paine. Beginning at Refugio Los Cuernos, the steep path leading up Valle Frances can either be a breeze of a slog, depending on the weather conditions but the 1-hour section leading to Mirador Frances isn’t too challenging no matter the weather. Here you will find spectacular views of Glacier Frances and Glacier Los Perros and it is the perfect point to stop for a quick lunch beside the turbulent Rio del Frances. On my W-Trek, this is the point I had to stop my journey up Valle Frances: blizzard-like conditions had left me freezing cold and the trail had become dangerous so I had to turn around.
Terrible weather isn’t uncommon in this section of the park, but if you have a clear day, continue onwards through the woods towards Mirador Britanico. It is an additional 3.5km/1.5 hours each way but the lookout is one of the best in Torres del Paine, giving you a close-up view of Los Cuernos. Ensure you have hiking poles as the steep walk down can be a little treacherous. Just make sure that you give yourself enough time to complete the hike before it gets dark.
Mirador Ferrier
Distance: 3km / 4 hours
Start & endpoint: Guarderia Grey
Difficulty: Difficult
Away from the Paine massif in the park’s grasslands where the glacial lakes dominate, the walk up to Mirador Ferrier is one of Torres del Paine’s more challenging day hikes but one with a big payoff. It’s a relatively quiet trail due to the fact it involves a steep 700m clamber up rough terrain taking around 1.5 hours where you will trek through forest before emerging at an exposed viewpoint with a glorious vista over the park’s lakes, the southern Patagonian icefield, as well as the Paine massif itself.
The trail is easily accessed from Guardería Grey, a ranger station close to Hotel Lago Grey and is well-tended as the beginning of the trail is used by passengers to access the Glacier Grey boat but as you continue along the path, you will likely have the entire trail to yourself.
Best Day Hikes: South Side of the Park
The park’s southern section is home to plenty of short and easy hikes that offer some of the finest views of the paine massif on a clear day. Luckily, these trails are fairly quiet as you will not have to contend with the walkers that are taking on the parks multi-day treks, leaving you to enjoy the vistas in peace.
Salto Grande Waterfall
Distance: 3km / 1 hour
Start & end point: Pudeto Catamaran Terminal
Difficulty: Easy
More a short walk than a hike, this takes you from the catamaran terminal on the northern shore of Lake Pehoe uphill for 20 or so minutes until you reach the thundering, glacier-fed waterfall of Salto Grande. If you arrive early for your boat ride to Paine Grande, take the opportunity to do this short walk, or if you have even longer, continue for another hour to the southern shore of Lago Nordenskjold for a spectacular vista of Cuernos del Paine.
Mirador Condor
Distance: 3km / 1.5 hours
Start & endpoint: Explora Patagonia
Difficulty: Easy
The short hike to Mirador Condor, starting at either Lago Pehoé campsite or Explora Patagonia, is one of the park’s simplest. It is a straight up-and-down hike to the viewpoint that should take around 45 minutes each way. It can become a little windswept at the top but the views of the Paine massif and shimmering Lago Pehoé are fantastic. This is an quick and easy hike if you happen to be staying at Explora Patagonia, otherwise, you may need a car to access Lago Pehoe campsite and the trailhead.
Mirador Lago Toro to Laguna Verde
Distance: 20km / 8 hours
Start & endpoint: CONAF Administration Centre
Difficulty: Medium
Starting at the CONAF administration centre, this full-day hike begins with a 1km walk northwards up Ruta Y-150 before heading down a trail towards Mirador Lago Toro (about 45 minutes). From there it is about 3 hours’ walk each way to the southern edge of Laguna Verde.
Mirador Cuernos
Distance: 5km / 2 hours
Start & endpoint: Salto Grande
Difficulty: Easy
Starting on the shore of beautiful lake Pehoe, this walk takes in the impressive waterfall of Salto Grande and heads towards Nodenskjold Lake. It’s a relatively relaxed ample that takes around 2 hours and is easily accessed by car but can become rather busy as the stunning mountain vista is one of the best viewpoints in the entire park.
Packing List for Day Hikes in Torres Del Paine
A benefit of seeing the park through day hikes is that you will be able to leave the majority of your luggage at your hotel, just taking a small amount of clothing and valuables with you. If you are planning to stay overnight in the park, remember to bring your booking confirmation, passport and immigration card to show at the entrance to the park.
Backpack
As you will be hiking from your accommodation and back in one day, you shouldn’t need to take more than a small backpack with you to hold just your daily essentials and extra clothes. Something compact and foldable will be your best option. The Osprey Ultralight Stuff Pack can be packed down to the size of its very small pouch yet holds 18 litres and has side pouches that can hold water bottles up to 600ml in volume.
Clothing
You will need to give a little forethought when it comes to what clothing to wear for a day hike in Torres del Paine. The weather on the trails can be rather unpredictable and is known to subject hikers to a mix of sunshine, snow, rain and sleet all in one day. Be sure to check the weather forecast before setting out as, in the summer months, temperatures can get quite high but you are still likely to encounter weather that ranges anywhere between 0 and mid-twenty degrees celsius at lower altitudes.
Ideally, layer your clothes. Avoid cotton and wear quick-drying, synthetic base layers with both a fleece layer and wind/waterproof jacket to wear on top to that you can add and remove layers as you feel the need.
- A good pair of hiking boots: Ensure that you wear in any new pair of boots before the trek as any unbroken-in boots will give you blisters and make the hike much more challenging.
- Warm hiking socks and a pair of breathable, anti-bacterial liner socks to reduce the chance of blisters.
- Waterproof hiking trousers. I recommend getting a pair that zip off and convert to shorts to make hiking in warm weather a little more comfortable.
- T-shirt made of synthetic fabric as a base-layer
- A warm, fleece layer such as the North Face Glacier or Berghaus Prism. If you don’t own a fleece, a good hoody will do the trick.
- A Gortex jacket to protect you from the wind and rain such as the Berghaus Ridgemaster.
- A warm hat and waterproof gloves.
- Sunglasses.
- A snood to keep your neck protected from the sun and wind.
Additional Items
- Sun cream
- Insect repellant
- A water bottle that you can refill from rivers and streams along the trail. Collapsable bottles will save you a lot of space.
- A small first aid kit. While hopefully, you will get through the hike without any injuries, it is always good practice to carry a small kit with painkillers, bandages, Imodium, plasters for any blisters
- Food. I recommend carrying a small packed lunch of sandwiches and fruit as well as some cereal bars or trail mix to keep your energy levels high.
Where to Stay
If you plan on seeing Torres Del Paine through a series of day hikes rather than doing the more intensive W and O Treks, you have the option of staying in Puerto Natales and getting the bus to the park each day or finding accommodation within the park itself. Although staying the park is more expensive, I recommend it as it will give you more time to complete the longer treks the Torres, to Glacier Grey or up through Valle Frances. Your park entry ticket is valid for 3 days and allows you to enter and exit as you wish, although, you will have to pay an additional fee if you wish to stay for longer.
Inside Torres Del Paine National Park
Eco Camp Patagonia
If you want to camp amongst the park’s spectacular trails in the heart of the Torres del Paine but don’t fancy hauling your tent the whole way, EcoCamp is the comfortable alternative. The cluster of geodesic domes all contain wooden floors, cosy wood-burning stoves, real beds with lots of warm bedding, and a window in the roof to see the stars.
For the more adventurous guests, the camp offers trekking packages of all lengths and levels, with excellent bilingual guides, and meals, drinks and transfers included. However, if hiking isn’t your thing, you can relax with yoga sessions, massage treatments, or just hang out with fellow travellers beside a roaring fire in the Community Domes
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Hotel Las Torres
Albeit a little pricey, the sprawling, wooden structure of Hotel Las Torres is one of the best-positioned hotels in the entirety of Torres Del Paine National Park. It’s located at the starting point of some of the park’s best day hikes, including the trek up to the iconic spires of Mirador las Torres.
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Explora Patagonia
Clinging to the shores of Lake Pehoe, Explora Patagonia’s award-winning hotel sits like a welcoming white beacon literally in the middle of Torres del Paine National Park. It’s surrounded by a dramatic granite vista with its clever design meaning that all of the 51 rooms take in the view.
The original concept for the hotel was based around walking and riding, and with over 40 different expedition options, guests can cover all areas of the park either on foot, horseback or by van, providing travellers with the opportunity of discovering the landscape at their own pace. While the luxurious scandi-style interiors and outdoor jacuzzis may be a little much for the walker that is wanting to tackle the famous “W” route, the Explora is a superb base for exploring this wild and beautiful region.
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Hotel Lago Grey
Located on the shores of Lago Grey in the western side of Torres Del Paine National Park, this hotel offers stunning views out over the water towards the jagged peaks of Cerro Paine and a multitude of day trip options that allow you to get up close to the magnificent Glacier Grey.
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In Puerto Natales
Erratic Rock
A perennial favourite amongst backpackers in this region of Patagonia, Erratic Rock has a laidback vibe perfect for people looking to mingle with other travellers as well as a great kitchen and wonderful breakfasts included. Not only is this a fantastic hostel, but they also host a daily seminar, nicknamed the 3 o’clock talk. You can join their expert guides each day at 3pm for a cup of coffee and a seminar that covers everything you need to know about Torres Del Paine. This includes current weather conditions, accommodation, equipment, trail routes and transportation. The hostel also has a rental store where you can hire any equipment you will need for multi-day hikes in the park. Their bar and cafe – Basecamp – is known for doing some of the best, and most reasonably priced pizzas in town.
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Factoria Patagonia
Run by Vertice Patagonia, the same company that is in charge of both Paine Grande and Refugio Grey in Torres Del Paine National Park, Factoria is an up-scale hostel in the historic centre of Puerto Natales. As well as cosy and modern dorm rooms, they offer twin rooms with private bathrooms for those looking to get a little extra comfort. A fantastic breakfast from the hostel’s on-site café is included in the price.
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The Singular
Occupying a former cold storage warehouse on a remote fjord, the Singular is Puerto Natales most luxurious hotel, with floor to ceiling windows in each room overlooking the magnificent Last Hope Sound. The hotel’s restaurant serves the best food in town and there is an on-site spa where you can relax after a hard day of hiking.
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