Baker River

The Baker leaves Lake Bertrand, fed by Lake General Carrera, at Puerto Bertrand and runs about 170 kilometres to the sea at Caleta Tortel, carrying more water than any other river in Chile - the colour is an opaque turquoise from glacial flour, and the confluence with the grey silt-laden Neff, where the two waters run side by side without mixing for some distance, is the most photographed point on it. Between 2008 and 2014 the river was the focus of HidroAysen, a scheme to build dams on the Baker and the Pascua with a transmission line running two thousand kilometres north; the Patagonia Sin Represas campaign fought it and the project was cancelled in 2014.

The landscape

• Chile's highest-volume river - out of Lake Bertrand.
• Opaque turquoise water - glacial flour in suspension.
• The Neff confluence - two colours running side by side.
• A dam scheme defeated - HidroAysen cancelled in 2014.

When to go

December to March. A full day along the road.

Practical notes

Viewpoints are roadside pull-offs on gravel with no facilities. Wind is constant. Rafting and fishing here are commercial and need arranging in advance. The road is slow and fuel points are far apart.

Nearby

Cochrane and Patagonia park are south; Puerto Bertrand is at the source.

Key facts