March 10, 2017
Futaleufu is located in the Los Lagos region and the highlight of the area is white water rafting on the Futaleufu River. Fed by the glaciers from the Lake District, the river flows through the mountain range providing sensational views and turquoise blue water.
I opted for a day hike instead of rafting (Patagonia is expensive!). The Futaleufu National Reserve is about an hour walk from town and provides expansive views of the river and entire valley. There’s dirt road winds slowly up where there’s a sign for Administracion Rerserva to the left. This is park entrance – we missed this initially and wandered for an over an hour before turning back. The trails are well marked and few people making for a relaxing but challenging hike. There were pear trees along the way providing a nice afternoon snack.
On our way back into town, we were offered a ride. Hitchhiking is commonplace in Chile, so we hopped in and skipped the slog on the main road back into town. Throughout Chile, I was impressed by how many kids were hitchhiking through Patagonia.
