Chile de Finde
Palmar de Ocoa: a forest of endemic Chilean wine palms (Jubaea chilensis) in La Campana National Park.

66 km from Santiago · straight line

La Campana

The last great Chilean palm forest, and the summit Darwin climbed.

  • Guide published
  • A day
  • Possible with connections

Photograph: Mar del Sur · CC BY-SA 3.0

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Cartography: OpenStreetMap

How to get there

Recommended option

For the Granizo sector, train or bus to Limache then local transport to Olmué. For Ocoa, a car.

Possible with connections

Departure point
Santiago or Valparaíso, depending on the sector
Arrival point
Olmué (Granizo sector) or Hijuelas (Ocoa sector)
Final leg
From the town to the gate there is a short leg by local transport or taxi.
Limitations
The sectors do not connect comfortably in one day. The summit climb has a cut-off entry time.

Schedules, fares and conditions may change. Check the latest information before travelling.

CONAF — Nuestros ParquesDirections from SantiagoOpen in Google MapsView on OpenStreetMap

Reviewed: 2026-08-04 · Official source

Why it's worth the trip

Because it's two parks in one: the palm forest is a walk among trees that grow almost nowhere else on earth, and the summit is a serious climb with a view of both the Pacific and the Andes on the same day.

Landscape

In the Ocoa sector one of the last Chilean wine palm forests (Jubaea chilensis) survives — a species that once covered much of this area and now remains in very few places. On the other side of the park stands Cerro La Campana, which Charles Darwin climbed in 1834 and described in his Beagle diary. UNESCO declared it a Biosphere Reserve in 1984.

  • Forest
  • Mountain
The summit of Cerro La Campana seen from the El Peumo trail, on the way to Portezuelo de Ocoa.
The summit of Cerro La Campana seen from the El Peumo trail, on the way to Portezuelo de Ocoa. Photograph: Kenov66 · CC BY-SA 4.0

What the trip could look like

Two possible formats: the Ocoa palm forest at an easy pace, or the full summit for anyone wanting a long day.

An idea of how the day would go.

A good fit if

  • Anyone interested in botany and landscape
  • People who want to choose between easy and demanding

Maybe not if

  • Extremely hot days, on the summit side

Worth knowing

  • The park sectors are not comfortably connected within a single day.
  • The summit climb has CONAF-limited entry times.

Sources

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