This remote and untamed region of Patagonia offers adventure far from the crowds
With its sapphire-hued rivers and glowing Marble Caves, Chile’s Aysén region offers intrepid travelers a wilder and less crowded alternative to Torres del Paine.
My paddle slices into deep blue water, battling a strong current as the raft aims for an intimidating rolling swell. When we crash into it, I’m crouched at the front of the raft as the wave breaks over my head, soaking me and the six others aboard from head to toe.
The Baker River, a tributary that cuts through the heart of Chile's Aysén Region, is surging with energy after unseasonably heavy rains. Clouds build around us, threatening to boil over once more, yet the glaciated mountains still manage to peek through, creamy sentinels against the azure water, as we float downstream.
The sapphire-hued river is just one highlight of Aysén, a vast and sparsely populated stretch of northern Patagonia in Chile, made accessible by the Carretera Austral (Ruta 7), a 770-mile road running south from Puerto Montt to Villa O’Higgins.
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A road that changed everything
Construction on the road began roughly 50 years ago, and when it was finally completed in 2000, the once-isolated region opened to intrepid travelers seeking something wilder and less crowded than Torres del Paine.
“It’s for those who wonder what Torres del Paine was like 50 years ago,” says Paula Christensen, owner and founder of Aysén Journeys. “It’s new for Chile and for the world. Before [the Carretera Austral] was built, communities were completely isolated.”
That late arrival of infrastructure is precisely what gives Aysén its power today. Vast, deliberately slow to develop, and largely untouched, it offers what Christensen calls “a real deep nature adventure experience.”
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Wild paths and quiet wonders
With seven national parks and access to the Northern Patagonian Ice Field—85 percent of South America’s glaciers are found in Chile—Aysén is, in Christensen’s words, a “paradise for hiking.” Landscapes shift dramatically: humid forests filled with enormous Nalca leaves give way to rocky high-altitude terrain and glacial valleys.
“The big difference from Torres del Paine is that you walk alone,” says Christensen. “Here, if we see four cars on the road, we say, ‘Oh my God, it’s crowded.’”
From day hikes like the 10.5-mile Lagunas Altas Trail in Patagonia National Park to multi-day adventures such as the four-day Las Horquetas Trek—where hikers follow a rugged route beneath the towering basalt walls of Cerro Castillo—the region richly rewards those who choose to explore it on foot.
The area also serves as a gateway to longer adventures, including the six-day Chile Chico–Jeinimeni route through Patagonia National Park, biking for several days—or weeks—down the gravel roads of the Carretera Austral and boat journeys toward the dramatic Glacier San Rafael.
Beyond the trails and the roar of the Baker River, a gentler serenity awaits on Lake General Carrera—known by its Indigenous name, Chilenko, or “storm water”—the second-largest lake in South America, where kayaks drift toward the Marble Caves. Glide through narrow turquoise tunnels sculpted by centuries of glacial water, each stroke a quiet communion with walls that seem to glow from within. The caves’ curves shimmer in a kaleidoscope of blue, cream, and gold, and for a fleeting moment, the world contracts to the soft tap of paddle against water and the gentle slap of waves against the kayak.
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Three worlds at the end of the road
Nacho Muñoz León, owner of Epic Patagonia Trips, a small Chilean outfitter offering guided journeys through this rugged, under-the-radar region, describes the multi-sport Aysén region as Patagonia at its most authentic: vast, isolated, and underdeveloped. “It’s my favorite region within Patagonia,” he says. “I even have a piece of land there. One day, I want to build a cottage.”
To fully understand the vast region that is Aysén, he divides it into three distinct zones: the lush north, home to Queulat National Park and its famous Hanging Glacier, the lake district around turquoise Lake Chelenko, where the Marble Caves glow blue and gold, and the wild southern reaches of the Carretera Austral. “Glaciers, fjords and cute little villages,” he says, summing it up simply.
In the far south, places like Caleta Tortel, a village connected by wooden boardwalks instead of streets, and Villa O’Higgins, the symbolic end of the Carretera Austral, feel like the edge of the map. “Just getting there is an adventure,” he says.
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Sleeping at the edge of wilderness
Fortunately, the experience doesn’t end when the activities do. Near Patagonia National Park’s boundary sits Pared Sur Camp, a reflection of Aysén’s balance between raw wilderness and thoughtful development.
Founder Pablo Sepúlveda began the project “as a series of tents and a toilet,” welcoming his first guests in December 2013. “I looked all over the country for a place, and here I knew I had chosen the best place,” he explains. What started small has expanded each year. Today, the camp accommodates up to 100 guests across 12 glamping domes (four without attached bathrooms), five cabins, a 40-bed refuge, and a camping site.
“It’s a remote area, but with good access,” Sepúlveda explains, noting the rare combination of isolation with reliable water and electricity. Operating from September to May, the camp is deeply rooted in its community: everything is handcrafted locally, and the staff comes from nearby towns such as Puerto Guadal, home to fewer than 1,000 residents.
Sustainability is central to its ethos. The property produces 40 eggs a day, grows roughly 20 percent of the food served to guests in on-site greenhouses, and draws energy from a solar farm. Over steaming bowls of cazuela, the region’s hearty traditional soup, conversation turns naturally to the landscape beyond the table: forests of Lenga trees thrive against the famous Patagonian wind; and guanacos move across the steppe, their slender forms resembling a cross between a deer and an alpaca.
Christensen’s family-run Mallín Colorado, which she describes as “adventure with comfort,” where guests hike by day and sleep and dine well at night, is another worthy choice in the region; however, travelers can also opt for small, expedition-style road trips like those run by Epic Patagonia Trips. These immersive journeys combine rafting the electric-blue Baker River, hiking to isolated glaciers, and traveling deep into a landscape where, as Muñoz León puts it, “the road itself is the trip.”
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The long way to Aysén
Getting here requires effort, think long travel days and hours driving or biking on gravel roads, but when you arrive, “you truly feel the remoteness,” Christensen says. “If you go hiking to a glacier, there probably won’t be anybody else there.”
For those ready to make the journey, access is straightforward, if not quick. Travelers can fly from Santiago to El Tepual Airport in Puerto Montt to begin in the north, or to Balmaceda Aerodrome near Coyhaique to access the central Carretera Austral. From there, the adventure unfolds slowly, deliberately, and gloriously off the beaten path.
