Santiago de Chile Chile de Finde
Andean mountain range seen from Río de los Cipreses National Reserve.

116 km from Santiago · straight line

Río de los Cipreses

A glacial valley with burrowing parrots screaming overhead.

  • Idea
  • A weekend

Photograph: Polahola · CC BY-SA 4.0

Why it's worth the trip

Because this is real wildlife, not a zoo: you come here to look up. And because the valley still feels big and lightly travelled.

Landscape

Above Machalí a long valley opens with the Cipreses river running through it and rock walls on either side. It is one of the places where the tricahue — Chile's largest parrot — still nests in the ravine walls, and you hear it well before you see it.

  • Mountain
  • Forest
  • Water
The Cipreses river passing through the Chacayes sector, next to the national reserve.
The Cipreses river passing through the Chacayes sector, next to the national reserve. Photograph: Marco Antonio Correa Flores · CC BY-SA 3.0

What the trip could look like

A short weekend: a walk up the valley, early bird watching and a night near the reserve.

A possible format, not yet a trip with a date.

A good fit if

  • Anyone interested in wildlife and birds
  • People who want a long valley and few others around

Maybe not if

  • Anyone chasing summits

Worth knowing

  • A CONAF-managed reserve with regulated access.
  • Nesting areas carry restrictions so the birds are not disturbed.

Sources

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