Vicente Perez Rosales

Chile's oldest national park, and South America's alongside Nahuel Huapi; it holds the Petrohué falls over lava from the Osorno volcano

Area

2,530 km²

Protection category

UICN II

Parque nacional — what the IUCN categories mean

Declared in

1926

Region

Northern Patagonia (Los Lagos)

Climate

Árido / desértico, Templado, Mediterráneo, Polar / frío

Plan your visit

Area: 2,530 km²

Highlight

Chile's oldest national park, and South America's alongside Nahuel Huapi; it holds the Petrohué falls over lava from the Osorno volcano

Declared in 1926, it is the oldest national park in Chile, contemporary with Argentina's Nahuel Huapi on the other side of the range. Its Petrohué falls were formed when lava flows from the Osorno volcano — still visible, its profile almost perfectly conical above Lake Todos los Santos — partly dammed the river's course, creating a series of rapids and drops over dark basaltic rock unusual in waterfalls of this scale.