Isolated. Haunting. Transcendent. Pali Aike is the most unusual park in the Patagonian system, like taking a trip to the moon. Tucked away into the pocket of Chile closest to Rio Gallegos, Argentina, hikers adore this park because of its unique landscape, walkable trails, and diversity of wildlife. The reason for its bizarre appearance is because what you are witnessing is evidence of what volcanic activity does to a landscape, which gives the region the basis for its name, “Tierra del Fuego”, or “Land of Fire.”
A bus from Punta Arenas will take you as far as the rural village of San Gregorio on the way to Rio Gallegos, Argentina, but from San Gregorio, the park is another 30-minute drive away down a gravel road, and you may or may not find an off-road taxi to take you there (and then come back to pick you up). A better experience will be arranging a guided trip from an outfitter based in Punta Arenas.
From the previous park in the series, Agostini, you are probably back in Punta Arenas, which is great. Keep that as your base camp as you’ll also use it for this visit.
If you haven’t yet read up on some of the foundations of the entire fifteen-park route, go back and check out my overview post so you can get oriented.
Punta Arenas is not only closes to the park, it also hosts a major international airport to which you can get connections to Puerto Montt, Santiago de Chile, Buenos Aires, and more.
The next closest airport is in Rio Gallegos, Argentina, which isn’t a bad idea to fly there if you want to start this whole series in reverse, and depending on the season, may be a better bargain. Compare flights and prices. Just note if you do fly through Rio Gallegos, you won’t be able to arrange for visits to the park from there as it belongs to the Chilean government. So you will have to go all the way to Punta Arenas and then backtrack to the park from there.
Parque Pali Aike is one of the few that doesn’t collect park fees online, and so the best way to get a park pass is either through your outfitter, or at the CONAF office in Punta Arenas, located at on the 4th floor of Av. Bulnes 0309.
As mentioned earlier, your best place from which to start the journey is Punta Arenas, which has already been your hub for the previous park visit.
From there, you will be heading northeast along the coastline of the Magellan Strait towards the Argentine border, but how you do that depends on if you’re venturing on an unguided versus a guided visit. If you go on a guided visit, your outfitter in Punta Arenas will take care of everything and there’s no need for further instruction. If, however, you go on an unguided visit, read more below in the Transportation Options section about the bus and taxi combination that will take you to a different starting point of San Gregorio, also referred to as Villa Punta Delgada, which is still 25 km from the park and you can scout around the town square to find a taxi or pickup to go the rest of the way. There is basic lodging and restaurants in San Gregorio, but don’t expect anything luxurious.
Open October through April
Topography: Magellanic Patagonian Steppe
Climate: Semi-arid (rains only June-August)
Pali Aike is not just a park, it’s also considered a national monument as it presents to the world the emblem of what Tierra del Fuego is all about, an extensive volcanic field especially attractive to migratory birds.
Throughout the park you can see hardened basaltic lava flow, naturally formed caves (the official cave to visit is aptly named Pali Aike cave and is a national momument); volcanic craters, accompanied by sightings of llamas (guanacos), fox, armadillos, and perhaps a puma.
Laguna Ana is the spot you want to go for bird watching. Look for yellow-billed pintails, black-necked swans, and red-gartered coots, just to name a few.
While you won’t have to worry about rain during the months the park is open, you should come prepared for wind. The volcanic rock can also be sharp, so wearing gloves to protect your hands and full-length jeans is advised.
|
Name
|
Distance
|
Hiking Time (round-trip)
|
Difficulty
|
Features
|
Open
|
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
Laguna Ana-Cueva Pali Aike
|
17.7 km
|
4 hours
|
Medium
|
Birdwatching, Archaeology, full experience
|
October - April
|
|
Morada del Diablo-Pozo del Diablo
|
7.4 km
|
2.5 hours
|
Medium
|
Lava fields, volcano craters
|
October-April
|
|
Cueva Pali Aike
|
1.2 km
|
1 hours
|
Easy
|
National monument Pali Aike Cave
|
October-April
|
Even if you take the longest of the trails and utilize public transportation, you can still easily get there and back from Punta Arenas in a full day.
So your first objective should be to use the Trail Guide to determine how much you want to hike and what is most important for you to see. Then, look at the Transportation Options to figure out what your time budget allows for waiting for buses, finding local taxis, etc. Staying overnight in Villa Punta Delgada/San Gregorio will save you a three hours, but an outfitter will probably not be interested in picking you up there, so you’ll be on your own in terms of finding a local pickup to take you to the trailhead and then come back later.
The roads in the park are secondary gravel, but otherwise well-maintained, so any driver you have take you to or into the park will need to have a vehicle that can withstand the dust and gravel chips coming up off the road.
For an unguided trip, you may also convince a San Gregorio driver to take you all the way back to Punta Arenas; they likely do it all the time.
For guided trips, it will be much easier to arrange and you probably will be picked up directly from your hotel in Punta Arenas. We recommend Tours Punta Arenas which has great tour packages exclusively for visiting Pali Aike.
There’s only one daily departure by bus from Punta Arenas to Rio Gallegos that you can reserve in advance, leaving at 3:30 p.m. There’s no price reduction for only going as far as San Gregorio, but it’s still a bargain. You’ll then just inform the driver you want to get off at Villa Punta Delgada if he’s more familiar with that term instead of San Gregorio.
There could be smaller and commuter-class companies that do the route on a seasonal basis, but they won’t publish their schedules or take advance reservations, so there’s no way to know if they could take you at a different hour until you are there and visit the bus station to see what’s available. If you have the time to take the gamble like this, it may be worthwhile.
Once you’re in San Gregorio, it’s a small town that caters to hikers, so you can look for a hotel around the central park to stay the night, and ask the reception if they can help you find a local driver to take you to the park and back for a day’s visit. You will have to give the driver clear instructions where and at what time to meet you, and we recommend at the Visitors Information Center because there you will have basic shelter and emergency infrastructure in case you are stranded. Pali Aike is a moonscape, and you don’t want to be deserted on the moon.
When you’re ready to come back, you can’t reserve a bus seat online. You just have to wait for the next passing bus and hope they have room. These usually come by at 11:00 a.m., but it’s better to check with the hotel reception in San Gregorio. The much better option is to simply befriend the same driver who takes you to the park and make him or her an offer to drive you the three hours to Punta Arenas. They will probably take your offer easily and happily.
Tours typically pick you up from your hotel in Punta Arenas about 8 a.m. but often need a minimum of six people to commit to the trip. They arrive at Pali Aike around 12 p.m. and will choose the trails that give you the most diverse experience, but it may not cater exactly to your preferences. For example, they may not be dedicated to birding or archaeological digs, but they’ll include a little bit of everything.
You’ll arrive back to your hotel around 7 p.m.
Keep in mind that tours don’t include the park entrance fee, and as I mentioned earlier it’s not one you can pay online. Simply ask the tour provider to guide you where you can pay the park fee, and they will find a way for you to do it with the least hassle.
Because Pali Aike is not easily accessible, but neither is it far from Punta Arenas, this one is easy for me to recommend just handing yourself over to a guided tour package. You don’t need to use the one linked above. There are many tour outfitters in Punta Arenas you can find if you want to wait and shop around once you’re there. This could be advantageous so you can find one that has a near-to-capacity tour that can eagerly add you to in order to get over their minimum limit.
Do make sure to come back to Punta Arenas, as your next stop is to the big daddy of them all, Torres del Paine!
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