Across the length of Chile, stretching 2,650 miles (4,265 kilometers) from north to south, more than 40 national parks have been established in the past century, protecting many endangered species, wild landscapes, and natural wonders. Collected below are images of several of these parks, from Lauca National Park, in the altiplano of Chile’s far north, to the dramatic mountains of Torres del Paine National Park, in the southern Patagonia region.
Chile’s Amazing National Parks
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![A distant view of a cluster of tall mountains with steep cliffs near their peaks]()
Read moreA view of the Cuernos del Paine, a cluster of steep granite peaks in Chile's Torres del Paine National Park. #
Lukasz Nowak1 / Getty -
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![Flowers bloom in the desert, surrounding a cactus.]()
Read moreFlowers bloom in the desert in Llanos de Challe National Park, near the Atacama desert, 600 kilometers north of Santiago, photographed after a wetter-than-normal year, on November 5, 2011. #
Antoine Lassagne / AFP / Getty -
![Alpacas graze along the shore of a lake, with a conical, snow-covered volcano in the background.]()
Read moreAlpacas graze along the shore of Chungara Lake, with Parinacota volcano visible in the background, in Lauca National Park, near Putre, in northern Chile. #
Dmitry Chulov / iStockphoto / Getty -
![A pair of flamingos fly, with mountains visible in the background.]()
Read moreA pair of Andean flamingos fly above Chungara Lake. #
Posnov / Getty -
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![Two small rabbit-like animals rest together on a rock.]()
Read moreA young mountain viscacha snuggles up to a sleeping adult on a rock in Lauca National Park. #
Jeremy Richards / iStockphoto / Getty -
![A dramatic view of steep mountains rising from water, with waterfalls along sheer cliffs beneath the visible face of a glacier]()
Read moreA waterfall known as Cascada de Ventisquero Colgante, or Hanging Glacier Falls, drops down a cliff below the face of Ventisquero Colgante Glacier, in Ventisquero Colgante Queulat National Park. #
Christine Phillips / Getty -
![A path meanders through moss-covered trees.]()
Read moreA path meanders through moss-covered trees in a temperate rainforest in Chile's Queulat National Park. #
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![Tall stylized stone statues of human heads stand on a steep and treeless mountain slope.]()
Read moreMoais stand in Rapa Nui National Park on the slopes of Rano Raraku volcano, on Chile's Easter Island. #
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![A cloud of ash billows from a volcano, spreading out into a huge cloud across much of the sky.]()
Read moreA cloud of ash billows from Puyehue volcano, in Puyehue National Park, near Osorno, in southern Chile, on June 5, 2011. Puyehue volcano erupted for the first time in half a century on June 4, 2011, prompting thousands of evacuations. #
Claudio Santana / AFP / Getty -
![A glacier flows in a winding path down mountain valleys into a lake.]()
Read moreThe Leones Glacier flows into a lake in Laguna San Rafael National Park, in southern Chile. #
Jorge León Cabello / Getty -
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![Two people pilot a small boat through floating ice at the terminus of a glacier.]()
Read morePeople pilot a small boat through floating ice at the terminus of San Rafael Glacier, in Laguna San Rafael National Park, on March 30, 2015. #
Steve Allen Photo / Getty -
![Water flows down a series of falls into pools between cliff faces.]()
Read moreA view of some of the Siete Tazas (Seven Cups)—a chain of seven natural pools and waterfalls along the Claro River, in Radal Siete Tazas National Park. #
Claudio Arriagada / iStockphoto / Getty -
![A view of a distant volcano and the branches of an evergreen tree with curving branches]()
Read moreA view of Llaima volcano and the branches of a monkey puzzle tree (Araucaria araucana) in Conguillío National Park, Chile #
Posnov / Getty -
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![A mountainside forest with tall evergreen trees and other trees showing autumn colors]()
Read moreMonkey puzzle trees stand among other trees showing autumn colors along the Sierra Nevada trail in Conguillío National Park. #
Fotografías Jorge León Cabello / Getty -
![A guanaco seen silhouetted against the sky on a ridge]()
Read moreA guanaco is silhouetted against the sky on a hillside in Torres del Paine National Park. #
Thomas Heinze / ImageBroker RF / Getty -
![A puma prowls through brush on a hillside.]()
Read moreA puma prowls through brush in Torres del Paine National Park. #
Daniel Jara / Getty -
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![Blue water plunges down a narrow waterfall.]()
Read moreWater plunges down the Salto Grande Waterfall along Pehoe Lake, in Torres del Paine National Park. #
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![A person wearing a jacket loos up while standing in a forest.]()
Read moreAntonio Lara, a researcher from the laboratory of the Faculty of Science and Climate of Austral University, looks at larch trees in Alerce Costero National Park, in Valdivia, Chile, on April 10, 2023. #
Martin Bernetti / AFP / Getty -
![A close view of the thick trunk of a very old tree]()
Read moreA close view of the "Alerce Milenario," in Alerce Costero National Park, seen on April 10, 2023. This giant alerce tree has survived for thousands of years. Scientists see in its trunk a valuable record of how life adapts to changes on the planet. The "Great Grandfather" tree, 28 meters tall and four meters in diameter, is in the process of being certified as the oldest tree on the planet at more than 5,000 years, older than the Methuselah pine of the United States, which was identified as the oldest in the world at 4,850 years. #
Martin Bernetti / AFP / Getty -
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![A view along a beach lined with trees]()
Read moreA view looking north along Santa Barbara beach, in Chile's Pumalín Douglas Tompkins National Park #
Andrea Pistolesi / Getty -
![Steam rises from a volcano, seen at sunset.]()
Read moreSunset colors appear in the sky over the active Chaitén volcano, with steam erupting from fumaroles, photographed from the main campground in Pumalín Douglas Tompkins National Park. #
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![The blue ice of a glacier ridge, seen near trees and a mountainside]()
Read moreA view of Serrano Glacier seen in Bernardo O'Higgins National Park, in the Chilean Patagonia, on February 21, 2016. #
Martin Bernetti / AFP / Getty -
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![A glacier descends down a steep mountain valley.]()
Read moreA wider view of Serrano Glacier, seen in Bernardo O'Higgins National Park on February 24, 2016 #
Martin Bernetti / AFP / Getty -
![An active volcano seen beneath a starry sky]()
Read moreThe active Villarrica volcano, seen beneath a starry sky in Villarrica National Park #
Remke Luitjes / Getty -
![A view of a lake from a mountain trail]()
Read moreA view of Tinquilco Lake, seen from a trail in Chile's Huerquehue National Park, after a recent snowfall at higher altitudes #
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![A herd of guanacos grazes on a hillside in front of steep mountains.]()
Read moreA herd of guanacos grazes on a hillside in Torres del Paine National Park, in the Magallanes region of southern Chile. #
JeremyRichards / iStockphoto / Getty -
![Several sharp and steep mountains jut up beyond a greenish-colored lake.]()
Read moreA view of the Torres del Paine mountains, seen from the Mirador Las Torres #
MBProjekt Maciej Bledowski / iStockphoto / Getty -
![Several rheas (small ostrichlike birds) walk along a hillside.]()
Read moreSeveral rheas walk along a hillside in Torres del Paine National Park. #
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![A type of crested falcon rests on a rocky outcrop, with bright-blue water in the background.]()
Read moreA southern crested caracara rests on an outcrop in Torres del Paine National Park. #
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![The low sun illuminates cloud formations above a grouping of steep mountains.]()
Read moreThe low sun illuminates cloud formations above the Cordillera del Paine, in Torres del Paine National Park. #
Anton Petrus / Getty
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