After visiting the Parque Patagonia in Argentina, we wanted to see its counterpart in Chile. But first, we had another border crossing ahead of us.
From Los Antiguos in Argentina, it’s only a very short 14 km drive across the border to Chile Chico. Luckily, this time the border crossing was less stressful.
(Editor’s note: we currently have 4 months of delay between real life and our blog posts. We were at the Parque Patagonia in February)
Chile Chico
Both cities are located at the huge Lago Buenos Aires / Lago General Carrera but have slightly different vibes.
In Chile Chico, we rented a small apartment for a couple of days.
But before exploring the city we had to fix a problem with our car. The sidewall of one of our tires was seriously damaged. That was probably the result of the very rough and rocky Ruta 41 Sur.
A quick visit to a gomería confirmed that the tire is unrepairable. To solve the problem we exchanged the damaged tire with our spare tire and bought a new cheap Chinese tire as our new spare tire. That was the only option to get in Chile Chico in that size and it’s better than nothing.
Now we were ready for an afternoon snack at the nice Lenga Café & Bistrot in the city center of Chile Chico. The vegetarian sandwich, maracuja cheesecake, and cappuccino were delicious.
Chile Chico was also the place where Linnéa’s friend Naomi left us. Naomi had traveled with us for 3 weeks but she wanted to continue now to Santiago de Chile to catch a flight to her next destination Costa Rica.
She took the ferry across the Lago General Carrera to Puerto Ingeniero Ibáñez, which is the fastest way to get further North.
From the Mirador De Las Banderas in Chile Chico, you have a nice view of the lake.
Parque Nacional Patagonia – Sector Jeinimeni
Our next destination was the Sector Jeinimeni of the Parque Patagonia in Chile. To get there we took the small gravel road X-753 from Chile Chico. This track runs parallel to the border and the Ruta 41 which we haden driven a couple of days before.
At the end of the track, you reach the beautiful Lago Jeinimeni.
From there we took the short (1 km) but steep trail to 3 miradors overlooking the lake.
The views from above and the color of the lake are just stunning.
Valle Lunar
But the highlight of Sector Jeinimeni was not the lake. About halfway between the Lago Jeinimeni and Chile Chico starts a trail to the Valle Lunar, a hidden gem in the national park. With a 4×4 vehicle, you can drive from the lower parking lot at the junction 2.2 km to the upper parking lot.
From there it’s another 1.5 km hike to the Valle Lunar viewpoint. The trail is not long but very steep and exhausting. It takes about one hour to reach the viewpoint from the upper parking lot.
But the effort is definitely worth it. The landscape is spectacular and looks like it’s coming directly from a fantasy film. One wouldn’t be surprised if dwarves, elves, or dragons suddenly appeared in the Valle Lunar.
We spent a long time at this awesome place enjoying the lovely sunset light.
When we arrived back at the car it was already getting dark.
Lago General Carrera
The next day, we continued our trip along the beautiful Lago General Carrera.
Just before reaching the Lago Negro and Lago Bertrand we found a beautiful beach at the last bay of the Lago General Carrera.
Since the weather was perfect on that day we decided to go for a swim.
Afterward, we continued our trip to our next destination: the Valle Chacabuco.
Parque Nacional Patagonia – Sector Valle Chacabuco
About 16 km before Cochrane we left the Ruta 7 and took the X-83 in the Valle Chacabuco.
The Valle Chacabuco is also part of the Parque Nacional Patagonia. This valley consists mostly of dry steppe grasslands and is home to abundant wildlife. This national park was founded by Kris and Douglas Tompkins in 2002 (with a large extension in 2004 ). It started as a private protection area and was finally donated to the Chilean government in 2018.
You can find hundreds of guanacos throughout the park, often very close to the roads.
In the national park, you can find a charming lodge with the feel of an upscale mountain lodge. But since it is extremely expensive we decided to stay on the Lost West Winds campground instead.
Since the camping area is huge and there are only a few tourists visiting this place it’s a very pleasant experience with lots of privacy and a small personal shelter for each camper. The only disadvantage is that you can’t park your vehicle next to your tent.
On our first night in the Los West Winds campground, we experienced a beautiful full moon rising above the surrounding mountains.
The next day, we visited the impressive museum near the lodge. It provides lots of interesting information about the Valle Chacabuco and the importance of nature conservancy in general.
Next, we explored the X-83 track which leads 75 km across the whole Chacabuco Valley and ends at the Paso Roballos which we had visited just recently on the other side of the border while driving the Ruta 41.
The landscape is really stunning and you can see lots of wildlife next to the road.
It was also a very good place to observe the Andean condor. It’s the largest flying bird in the Western Hemisphere and belongs to the family of vultures.
Near the end of the road, you can find another very interesting exhibition about the history of this place. Originally, the Valle Chacabuco was home to one of the largest sheep ranches in this region. British explorer Lucas Bridges established this area as ranchland in 1908. The exhibition shows how the people at that time lived in the valley.
Only due to the conservancy effort of Kris and Douglas Tompkins could the biodiversity of this valley be restored to nearly its original status. The first two things they did, were remove all fences and all livestock in the valley.
On the way back to our campground we explored the short 4×4 sidetrack to the Mirador Douglas Tompkins.
The mirador offers a nice view of the Lago Cochrane / Lago Pueyrredón, where we already stayed a few nights while exploring the Ruta 41.
It was supposedly also one of the favorite places of Douglas Tompkins who sadly died in 2015 in a kayak accident on the Lago General Carrera. He is buried near the Valle Chacabuco lodge. I really admire what he has achieved in his life.
As a side note: In the same year as Douglas Tompkins passed away I had my first National Geographic publication (of some Patagonia images) and since the international tax regulations turned out to be a real challenge I decided to donate my whole income to the Tompkins Conservation Fund instead. I’m still very happy about my decision, especially after visiting this beautiful place and seeing the positive effect of a well-thought-out conservative initiative with my own eyes.
Wild Places 
The Lenga Café & Bistrot is a nice recommendation, we did not know it yet.
We have done the X-753 from Chile Chico, but only to the Valle Lunar. Is it worthwhile to go all the way to the Sector Jeinimeni if you have already seen the Chilean Valle Chacabuco and the Argentinian Parque Patagonia as well as the Valle Lunar?
Anyway, we did the long hike with the spectacular Valle Lunar at the end. Absolutely fantastic!!!
Nice picture of father and daughter on a swim! 😉 I also love swimming in Chilean waters, but most of the time I can’t stay any longer than one minute. How was the water temperature when you swam at Lago Gen. Carrera?
Just like you I am an admirer of Douglas Tompkins (and I also loved the Mirador Douglas Tompkins by the way). I am impressed by your decision to donate your whole income to the Tompkins Conservation Fund!
I would say the highlight in the Sector Jeinimeni is definitely the Valle Lunar. If you have limited time I would probably skip the Lago Jeinimeni.
The water temperature in the on that calm day was not bad at all. At the surface it was quite warm (probably between 20 and 25 degrees Celsius) but even just 30 cm below the surface it was much colder (like 15 to 18 degrees). The upper half of your body was warm while the lower half was freezing. Felt a bit strange but was ok for a couple of minutes.