Caleta Tortel

Tortel sits where the Baker reaches the sea, on a steep shore with no flat ground, and the village solved that by building itself on stilts: about seven kilometres of boardwalks and staircases of guaitecas cypress, running along the water and up the slope, connecting every house, with no roads and no vehicles inside it at all. The village was founded in 1955 by families cutting that same cypress, and the timber built the walkways it stands on. A road only reached the place in 2003; before that everything came by boat. Everything is still carried by hand along the boardwalks.

Background

Caleta Tortel serves as the administrative centre of the commune of Tortel. It lies on a small inlet of the Baker Channel beside the mouth of the Baker River, which is the largest river in Chile, in rugged country of islands, fjords, channels and estuaries. The cypress the settlers came for is Pilgerodendron uviferum, and timber still makes up most of the local economy. The stilt houses follow the Chilotan style of building. The village school, opened in 1978, has about 90 students and teaches up to 8th grade, and the public library offers free WiFi. The road that arrived in 2003 is the X-904, linking the village to the Carretera Austral. The 2017 census counted 523 people.

Source: Wikipedia, "Caleta Tortel"

What's there

• Seven kilometres of boardwalk - the village's entire street system.
• Built of guaitecas cypress - the timber the settlers came to cut.
• No vehicles inside - everything carried by hand.
• A road only since 2003 - before that, boats only.

When to go

December to March. A full day.

Before you go

Everything you bring you carry, up and down stairs, in rain - and it rains here most days. Accommodation is small guesthouses. The boardwalks are slippery. The spur road from the Carretera is long gravel.

Nearby

The Baker river runs in here; Villa O'Higgins is south at the road's end.

Key facts