Camping

At Estancia Cerro Paine, Camping Las Torres (US$6.50 pp) draws hikers heading up the Ascencio valley to the Paine overlook and/or west on the “W” route [1] to Lago Pehoé, or those finishing the circuit here. Shower and toilet facilities have improved.

On a bluff above Refugio Las Torres, the Cascada EcoCamp is a minimum-impact geodesic dome encampment; on raised platforms, each tent is five meters wide, with wooden floors and two single beds, with towels and bedding including down comforters. Two larger domes contain a common living area, dining rooms, and kitchen; the separate bathrooms have hot showers and composting toilets (from some domes, middle-of-the-night toilet trips mean a long walk). Electricity comes from solar collectors, windmills, and a small hydro-turbine. It’s open to Cascada Expediciones clients only (Don Carlos 3219, Las Condes, Santiago, tel. 02/2329878, www.cascada.travel [2]).

On the small peninsula on the eastern shore of its namesake lake, just west of the road to visitors center, sites at the concessionaire-run Camping Lago Pehoé (tel. 02/1960377, asoto [at] sodexho [dot] cl, US$26) hold up to six people; fees include firewood and hot showers. About six kilometers south of park headquarters, Camping Río Serrano (US$6.50 pp) has reopened with substantial improvements, including cooking shelters at each site.

In the park’s out-of-the-way northeastern sector, which some visitors prefer, is Camping Laguna Azul (tel. 061/411157 in Puerto Natales, cpena [at] laauracana [dot] cl, US$22 per site).