The Tehuelche people called this area «the desolate place where the devil dwells,» perhaps a nod to its strange, moon-like beauty. Pali Aike National Park is located 122 miles from Punta Arenas, near Chile’s border with Argentina. Low-lying volcanic cones, caves, various types of craters, basalt walls, and lava scoria tell the story of recent volcanic eruptions in this paradise for geologists, volcanologists, and anthropologists. Eleven thousand years ago, native people traveled by foot across the plateau, which never reaches an altitude of more than 660 feet. Today, the Magellanic steppe is home to diverse wildlife, including Guanacos, Foxes, and Ñandús.

Open

October to April

Area

12,429 acres

Climate

Semi-arid, with winter rains

Rainfall

8 to 12 inches annually

Ecosystem

Magellanic Patagonian steppe

Founded

October 23, 1970

“No one can stand in these solitudes unmoved, and not feel that there is more in man than the mere breath of his body”,

Charles Darwin.

Flora

The dry, spiky Coirón is the central feature of the Magellanic Steppe. Other notable flora in the park include Mata Negra, Mata Gris, and Mata Amarilla, three colors of a high-mountain flowering shrub. In the crevasses, Paramela, Ferns, and Anemones grow, while Lichen colonize the lava crusts, patiently breaking down the volcanic rock and forming organic material. In summer, you can find the berries of the Murtilla and Calafate (Magellan Barberry) plants.

Fauna

Guanacos are a common sight on the plateau. You can also frequently spot Foxes, Chingues (Molina’s Hog-Nosed Skunk), Armadillos, and Ñandús. Pumas also make their home in the park, along with a wide variety of birds, including the Flamingo and the Coscoroba Swan, as well as Cernicalos (Common Kestrels), Caiquenes (Sheldgeese), Aguiluchos (Red-Backed Hawks), Varis, and Águilas Moras (Black-Chested Buzzard Eagles).

Culture

Junios Bird studied the remains of three cremated skeletons, arrowheads, and vestiges of extinct fauna, which had been discovered in the Fell Cave and the Pali Aike Cave in 1930. These findings provided glimpses of human presence in the area dating back around 11,000 years. In more recent times, Pali Aike was the territory of the Aonikenks or Tehuelches, a nomadic people that inhabited the Patagonia. They were expert hunters and used spears and bow and arrow to hunt Guanacos and Ostriches. With the introduction of horses to the region during the 18th century, these peoples extended their routes through the southern steppe and made new hunting tools, such as boleadoras, a throwing weapon made of weights attached to cords.

infrastructure

• Bathrooms
• Lodging
• Camping
• Restaurants
• Information Center
• Trails
• Trekking Circuits
• Picnic Area

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