Huerquehue

Huerquehue National Park was created in 1967 in the La Araucanía region, north-east of Pucón, and protects some 125 km² of mid-altitude mountain country at altitudes between 700 and 2,000 m.

Its characteristic feature is the araucaria forests, with individuals of great size and age that in some cases exceed a thousand years. The araucaria, or pehuén, is the sacred tree of the Pehuenche people, who take their name from it and whose seed has been the basis of their traditional diet; gathering it remains a recognised right in some territories. Beneath the canopy grow lenga, coigüe and a dense understorey of quila.

The other distinctive element is the mountain lakes: Tinquilco, Chico, Verde and Toro among others, set between wooded slopes and linked by a network of paths that constitutes the park's main route. The fauna includes pudú, monito del monte, Magellanic woodpecker and a community of temperate forest birds. Huerquehue forms part of the Araucarias Biosphere Reserve, declared by UNESCO in 1983 alongside the national parks of Conguillío, Tolhuaca and Villarrica and six national reserves.