Nahuelbuta National Park

Araucaria is an Andean tree almost everywhere it grows, but a separate population survives on the Nahuelbuta range in the coastal cordillera, cut off from the Andean stands, and Nahuelbuta national park protects the largest remaining part of it - about seven thousand hectares out of a forest that once covered the range and has been reduced by logging and by conversion to pine and eucalyptus plantation on all sides. Some trees here are estimated at over a thousand years. From the Piedra del Aguila lookout the view runs to the Pacific on one side and the Andean volcanoes on the other. The Darwin's fox, one of the rarest canids, lives here.

What you actually see

• Coastal araucaria - a population separate from the Andean stands.
• Trees over a thousand years old - among the oldest in the range.
• Plantation on every side - the forest reduced to a fragment.
• Darwin's fox - one of the rarest canids in the world.

When to go

December to March; snow closes the park in winter. A full day.

Honest expectations

The road in is long gravel and can be rough. The park is surrounded by industrial plantation, which is visible and is the point. Fog and rain are common on the range. Facilities are camping and basic.

Nearby

Angol is east; Canete and the coast are south-west.