Torres del Paine National Park (Spanish: Parque Nacional Torres del Paine) is a national park that includes mountains, glaciers, lakes, and rivers in southern Chilean Patagonia. The Cordillera del Paine mountain range is the park's main feature. It is located in an area where the Magellanic subpolar forests and the Patagonian Steppes meet. The park is 112 km (70 mi) north of Puerto Natales and 312 km (194 mi) north of Punta Arenas. It borders Bernardo O'Higgins National Park to the west and Los Glaciares National Park to the north in Argentina. The park was created as a national park in 1959. The word "Paine" means "blue" in the Tehuelche (Aonikenk) language and is pronounced PIE-neh.

Torres del Paine National Park is part of Chile's Sistema Nacional de Áreas Silvestres Protegidas (National System of Protected Forested Areas). In 2013, the park covered about 181,414 hectares (700 sq mi). It is one of the largest and most visited parks in Chile. The park has about 252,000 visitors each year, with 54% of them being foreign tourists from many countries around the world. It is also part of the End of the World Route, a scenic tourist route.

The park is one of 11 protected areas in the Magallanes Region and Chilean Antarctica, which includes four national parks, three national reserves, and three national monuments. Together, these protected areas make up about 51% of the region's land (6,728,744 hectares (25,980 sq mi)).

The Torres del Paine ("Towers of Paine") are three distinct granite peaks in the Paine mountain range or Paine Massif. From south to north, they are Torre d'Agostini, Torre Central, and Torre Monzino. These peaks rise 2,500 metres (8,200 ft) above sea level and are connected to the Cuernos del Paine ("Horns of Paine"). The area also has valleys, rivers like the Paine, lakes, and glaciers. Well-known lakes include Grey, Pehoé, Nordenskiöld, and Sarmiento. Glaciers such as Grey, Pingo, and Tyndall are part of the Southern Patagonia Ice Field.

History

In 1880, Lady Florence Dixie wrote a book that described the area for the first time. She called the three towers "Cleopatra's Needles." She and her group are sometimes credited as the first foreign visitors to the area now known as Torres del Paine National Park.

In the years after, several European scientists and explorers visited the region, including Otto Nordenskiöld, Carl Skottsberg, and Alberto María de Agostini. Gunther Plüschow was the first person to fly over the Paine massif.

The park was created on May 13, 1959, and was called Parque Nacional de Turismo Lago Grey (Grey Lake National Tourism Park). It received its current name in 1970.

In 1976, British climber John Garner and two park rangers, Pepe Alarcon and Oscar Guineo, helped create the Circuit trail, which surrounds the Paine massif.

In 1977, Guido Monzino gave 12,000 hectares (30,000 acres) of land to the Chilean government when the park’s final boundaries were set. The park became a UNESCO World Biosphere Reserve in 1978.

In 1985, a tourist started a fire that burned about 150 km (58 square miles) of the park. The fire damaged areas east and south of Lake Pehoé.

In February 2005, a fire started accidentally by a Czech backpacker burned for about ten days. It destroyed 155 km (60 square miles) of the park, including 2 km of native forest. The Czech government donated $1 million to help regrow the forest after the fire.

Between late December 2011 and January 2012, an Israeli backpacker was accused of starting a fire after lighting paper in a restricted area. The backpacker and family denied the claim, and the charges were later dropped. The fire burned about 176 km (68 square miles) of the reserve, damaging 36 km of native forest and affecting areas around Lake Pehoé and Lake Sarmiento, but not reaching the Cordillera del Paine, the park’s central feature.

In 2019, a small fire caused by a cigarette butt was quickly put out by local firefighters.

Recent studies in the park show that fires have occurred frequently for at least 12,800 years.

Climate

According to the Köppen climate classification, the park is located in a “temperate climate of cold rain without a dry season.” The weather in the park changes often because of the complex mountainous terrain.

The park is well known for having very strong winds. The windiest months are November through January, which is also when the most visitors come to the area.

The area has cool summers, with the warmest month, January, having average temperatures below 16°C (61°F). Winters are relatively cold, with an average high temperature in July of 5°C (41°F) and an average low of −3°C (27°F).

The rainiest months are March and April, with an average monthly rainfall of 80 mm. This is twice the amount of rainfall during the drier months of July through October. A study has been conducted to examine the exact chemical makeup of the rain in the park.

Hydrology

The park has a large drainage system that includes many rivers, streams, lakes, ponds, and waterfalls. These water sources come from the Southern Patagonia Ice Field and flow southeast toward Última Esperanza Sound, which is near the city of Puerto Natales. The water paths are steep and change direction suddenly, often because of waterfalls and fast-moving rapids.

The Southern Patagonia Ice Field covers the entire western side of the park. This ice field supplies water to four main glaciers, which are, from north to south, the Dickson, Grey, Zapata, and Tyndall glaciers. The Tyndall Glacier is melting quickly. The largest glacier is the Grey Glacier. It splits into two parts because of an ice peninsula, called the Nunatak, which becomes more visible each year. The eastern part of the glacier is about 1.2 kilometers long, while the western part is approximately 3.6 kilometers wide. The glacier stretches about 15 kilometers inland from its starting point.

Studies of the park’s glaciers have helped scientists learn more about Earth’s history, especially the time periods that followed the last glacial age.

Geography

The landscape of the park is shaped by the Paine massif, which is a part of the Andes located on the east side of the Grey Glacier. It rises above the Patagonian steppe. Small valleys separate the granite spires and mountains of the massif. These valleys are: Valle del Francés (French Valley), Valle Bader, Valle Ascencio, and Valle del Silencio (Silence Valley).

The head of French Valley is a bowl-shaped area with tall cliffs. Large walls of Cerro Cota 2000 and Cerro Catedral mark the western part of the valley. Cerro Cota 2000 is named for its height, as its highest line is about 2,000 m (6,562 ft). Cerro Catedral is named because its east side looks like a cathedral’s front. To the north is a granite ridge called Aleta de Tiburón (Shark’s Fin). To the east, from north to south, are the peaks Fortaleza (Fortress), La Espada (The Sword), La Hoja (The Blade), La Máscara (The Mummer), Cuerno Norte (North Horn), and Cuerno Principal (Main Horn).

In the Valley of Silence, large granite walls of Cerro Fortaleza and Cerro Escudo (Shield Mountain) face the western sides of the Torres del Paine. Ascencio Valley is the usual path to reach the Torres del Paine lookout, which is located at the edge of a milky green lake. The tallest mountain in the group is Paine Grande, which was measured in 2011 using GPS and found to be 2,884 m (9,462 ft).

The Southern Patagonian Ice Field covers much of the park. Glaciers in the area include the Dickson, the Grey, and the Tyndall.

Among the lakes are Dickson Lake, Nordenskjöld Lake, Lake Pehoé, Grey Lake, Sarmiento Lake, and Del Toro Lake. Only part of Del Toro Lake is within the park. Most lakes are brightly colored, mainly because of rock dust in their water. The main river in the park is the Paine River. Most rivers and lakes in the park flow into Última Esperanza Sound through the Serrano River.

Much of the geology in the Paine Massif area consists of rocks formed during the Cretaceous period, which were pierced by a Miocene-age laccolith. Mountain-building and erosion processes shaped the current landscape, and glaciers carved the massif over thousands of years. A clear example is the Cuernos del Paine, where exposed granite bands contrast with the dark tops, which are remnants of eroded sedimentary rock. In the case of Las Torres, the sedimentary rock layer above the granite has completely eroded, leaving only the harder granite.

In June 2014, scientists found fossils of at least 46 nearly complete skeletons of dolphin-like creatures called Ichthyosaurs, which lived between 245 and 90 million years ago. These fossils were discovered after melting glaciers revealed new rock faces.

During the last glacial period, glaciers in the area reached their maximum size about 48,000 years ago, earlier than in northern regions like Chiloé and Llanquihue. During the late Pleistocene and early Holocene, several lakes formed near Torres del Paine. The last of these, the Great Tehuelche Paleolake, covered what is now Sarmiento and Del Toro lakes and a large area to the east, making the Cazador Range a peninsula. The Great Tehuelche Paleolake disappeared after being drained about 7,113 years ago. Ancient lake terraces mark the levels these lakes once reached, though details about their history are unclear.

Because it is an important site for studying how shallow bimodal laccoliths form, the International Union of Geological Sciences (IUGS) added the "Miocene Torres del Paine intrusive complex" to its list of 100 global "geological heritage sites" in October 2022. The IUGS defines a geological heritage site as a location with geological features or processes of international scientific value, used as a reference, or that has greatly contributed to the development of geological sciences.

Biology

The most recent major study about the plants in the park was done by Pisano in 1974. This study looked at four areas within the park, each with different types of plant life.

Torres del Paine National Park has many kinds of plants, including the evergreen Embothrium coccineum, which has bright red flowers that grow in clusters, and Calceolaria uniflora, which has unique shapes and bright colors. The park has 7 recorded orchid species, such as Chloraea magellanica. Scientists have found 85 non-native plant species in the park, with 75 from Europe and 31 classified as invasive.

The park has four main plant zones: Patagonian steppe, Pre-Andean shrubland, Magellanic subpolar forests, and Andean Desert. The Patagonian steppe has plants like Fescue (mainly Festuca gracillima), which can survive strong winds and harsh weather. The Pre-Andean shrubland includes plants like Mulinum spinosum (a cushion plant) and Escallonia rubra, which often grow with other species such as Anathrophyllun desideratum and Berberis buxifolia. The Magellanic subpolar forests have trees like Nothofagus pumilio and Nothofagus antarctica. In the Andean Desert, above the tree line, plants like Escallonia rubra, Empetrum rubrum, and Senecio skottsbergii grow instead of trees.

A study about beech trees and how forests regrow in the park was published in 1992.

Guanacos are one of the most common animals in the park. Other mammals include foxes and pumas. The endangered Chilean Huemul also lives there. Scientists have studied how pumas hunt guanacos.

The park is home to breeding populations of 15 bird of prey species, and two more species may also breed there. These include the Andean condor, black-chested buzzard-eagle, rufous-tailed hawk, cinereous harrier, chimango caracara, magellanic horned owl, austral pygmy-owl, and others. Other birds in the park include the Chilean flamingo, Darwin’s rhea, coscoroba swan, black-necked swan, Magellanic woodpecker, Magellanic goose, and black-faced ibis.

• Fauna in Torres del Paine National Park
• Guanaco
• Rheas
• South Andean deer
• South American gray fox
• Crested caracara
• Puma
• Wild Horses

Tourism

The national park in Chile is a well-known place for hiking and receives more than 250,000 visitors each year. The park has clearly marked trails and several refugios, which offer shelter and basic services. There are also hotels located inside and near the park. Visitors can choose to take a short trip to see sights like the towers, French Valley, or Glacier Grey, or they can go on longer hikes. Longer hikes include the popular "W" route, which takes 3 to 5 days and covers about 50 miles, and the full "O" route, which usually lasts 7 to 9 days and covers 81 miles.

Using a camping stove for cooking is only allowed in refugios. Camping is permitted only at designated campsites, and lighting fires with wood is not allowed anywhere in the park. Since October 2016, it has been required to reserve a campsite or refugio before entering the park. Hikers must stay on marked trails, and a certified guide is needed to visit certain areas of the park. Scientists have measured how visitors affect the park.

The best time to visit is between September and April, which includes southern spring, summer, and early autumn. During summer, the sun stays up for many hours because of the park’s southern location. Outside of this time, the weather becomes very harsh. In southern winter, daylight lasts only about 8 hours each day.

Popular attractions include the Cuernos, a group of mountains that are 2,000 meters tall, and the view of Pingo Lake from Glacier Grey. The park was chosen as the 8th Wonder of the World by TripAdvisor.

Access routes

The park can be reached by Chile Route 9, a paved road that connects Punta Arenas and Puerto Natales. This road remains paved for 100 kilometers and then turns into a gravel road. During winter, tire chains are recommended because weather conditions can be unpredictable. The park can also be reached by boat or plane. Some buses travel from Puerto Natales to the park.