The Carretera Austral

Route 7 runs south from Puerto Montt for roughly 1,240 kilometres through a part of Chile that had no road at all until construction began in the 1970s, and where ferries still fill the gaps where the land runs out. The road threads temperate rainforest, hanging glaciers, turquoise rivers and fjord heads, past Queulat's glacier suspended in a cirque above a waterfall, the marble caves on General Carrera lake, and the enormous new national parks created from donated private land. Villages are tiny and far apart. It has become the classic Chilean road trip and increasingly a cycling route, though much of it remains gravel and the weather in Aysén does what it likes regardless of the season.

History

There had been unsuccessful attempts to build access roads into the region in the 1950s and 1970s, and construction of the highway began in 1976 to connect its remote communities, carried out by the engineering corps of the Chilean Army with more than 10,000 soldiers. It opened to traffic in 1988, reached Puerto Yungay by 1996, and the last 100 kilometres to Villa O'Higgins opened in 2000, with a branch road to Caleta Tortel finished in 2003 (Wikipedia, Carretera Austral).

What you'll find

• Queulat hanging glacier - a glacier suspended in a cirque with waterfalls falling from it.
• Cerro Castillo - a jagged basalt massif with one of Patagonia's best multi-day treks.
• Patagonia National Park - the Chacabuco valley, restored from sheep ranch to guanaco grassland.
• Caleta Tortel - a village built entirely on cypress boardwalks instead of streets.

When to go

December to March is the practical window, with the longest days and the most ferry sailings. Outside that, services thin out drastically and some sections become impractical. Even in summer, expect wind and rain on any given day.

Before you go

Long stretches are gravel and hard on vehicles; punctures are routine and rental agreements often restrict where you can take the car. Ferries must be booked ahead in summer and a missed sailing can cost days. Fuel and cash are scarce between towns. This is a genuine expedition rather than a scenic drive, and rushing it in under a week is a mistake.

Nearby

Chiloé and Puerto Montt sit at the northern end; Villa O'Higgins and the crossing to Argentina at the south.

Key facts