Only eight kilometers west of downtown, 13,500-hectare Reserva Nacional Magallanes is a mosaic of Patagonian steppe and southern beech forest that, in good winters, amasses enough snow for skiing. Despite its proximity to Punta Arenas, it gets barely 8,000 visitors per year, fewer than 300 of them foreigners.

From westbound Avenida Independencia, a good gravel road climbs gradually to a fork whose southern branch leads to the reserve’s Sector Andino, where the local Club Andino’s Centro de Esquí Cerro Mirador includes a refugio that serves meals, a ski school, and a single well-maintained chairlift. In summer, try the Sendero Mirador, a two-hour loop hike that winds through the forest and crosses the ski area; there’s also a mountain-bike circuit.

The northwesterly Sector Las Minas, which includes a gated picnic area, charges US$2 per person for adult admission but nothing for kids. A longer footpath joins the trail to the El Mirador summit, which offers panoramas east toward Punta Arenas, the strait, and Tierra del Fuego, and west toward Seno Otway.

Though some travel agencies offer tours from Punta Arenas, this would also be a good mountain-bike excursion.