Huerquehue National Park is 125 square kilometres of pristine beauty with lush forests, crystal-clear lakes, towering mountains and home to the rare ancient Araucaria or monkey puzzle tree. The park is also home to a variety of wildlife including the Pudú the world’s smallest deer.

Where is Huerquehue National Park

Huerquehue National Park is located in the Chilean lake district 30km east of Pucón

How to get to Huerquehue National Park

Catch the bus from the Carburgua bus terminal at 40 Uruguay Street in Pucón. Currently there is only one bus that leaves at 8:30am and returns from Huequehue National Park at 17:10pm. The round trip journey costs 5,800 pesos. You can check the Caraburgua website for bus times and prices.

Travel Tip: The bus is a small mini bus that has limited space, so arrive at least 30 minutes early to snag a ticket for the bus.

Huerquehue National Park Entrance Fee

Needs to be purchased online in advance from the parseparques website. Entrance Fee – 4500 pesos for Chile nationals and 10,000 pesos for foreigners.

When is the best time to visit Huerquehue National Park

The national park is open all year round but the best time to visit depends on your preferences for weather and crowds:
Summer (December–February): The peak tourist season, with warm temperatures between 8 °C (46 °F) – 25 °C (77 °F).
Spring and autumn: Milder weather with less crowds and temperatures between 4 °C (39 °F) – 22 °C (72 °F). Autumn is a great time for autumn colours
Low season (May–August): Cold weather with temperatures between 3 °C (37 °F) – 13 °C (55 °F). Trails can be closed due to trail conditions.
Our Verdict: Summer for the weather and autumn for some amazing fall colours.

What to pack

Warm clothes, Rain jacket, Water and food (there are no shops within the national park).

Where to stay

Pucón is the nearest town and gateway to the Chilean Lake district. Camping is also available within the National Park.

Fun Fact: Huerquehue is a Mapudungun word (the language of the Mapuche people) that means "the messenger’s place"

Los Lagos Trail Summary

  • Distance: 12.9km
  • Time needed: 6 hours
  • Difficulty: Moderate
  • Route type: Out and back
  • Elevation gain: 1374m

Our Experience

When you arrive at the park you will need to show the park entrance receipt to the ranger(you will receive an email after paying) at the rangers hut at the end of the parking lot.

The trail starts right at the entrance and runs beside “Lago Tinquilco” through lush thick forest, once you clear the lake the trail starts to rapidly gain elevation all the way to the first lake. Luckily there are 2 viewpoints along the way to catch your breath. From this viewpoint you get stunning views and from here you can see where we started beside lake Tinquilco. On a clear day you can see the Villarica volcano but not for us unfortunately.

The first lake you will come across is Lago Chico and this lake is beautiful and surrounded by thick forest and the first look at some monkey puzzle trees. The trail runs beside the lake before the turnoff for the loop section.

You will eventually come across an intersection on the trail where the loop section starts that takes you to the other lakes we decided to go anti clock wise but you can go anyway you want. Next stop was Laguna Torro and again the trail runs around the side of the lake.

This part of the trail is really spectacular with the turquoise waters, lush forest, mountains and the ancient monkey puzzle trees. It has Jurassic park feel where you are expecting a dinosaur or something to jump out at any moment.

You will eventually reach the last lake, Lago Verde and again another stunning blue lake surrounded by the monkey puzzle trees. There are some large rocks here beside the lake a great place to stop for some lunch.

We then completed the loop and headed back down the way we came past Lago Chico. there are also two short spur trails on the way up that lead to waterfalls. We decided to save these for the way back as we were not sure how much time we would have. In the end we only had time for one waterfall just making it back in time to catch the bus.

Conclusion

2 big thumbs up from us for this National Park is so stunning and a great day out from Pucón. This place is very unique with the Monkey Puzzle trees and the stunning lakes along the trail. There are other trails you can do also that looked really good, so you could camp here or come back another day. We will definitely have to return to this area and explore more the other trails.

Next Stop:

Also check out our YouTube video below 👇