GPT45 (Torres Del Paine)

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Overview

Here it's important to note that to legally visit Valle Zapata (Option 8) you need either licenced guide or an expedition permit issued by CONAF.

Suggestions:

1. trail to Mirador Torres closes at 15:00, checked by CONAF

2. official trail to Mirador Británico closes at 14:00, checked by CONAF

3. RR now leads from km 160 on old unmaintained (yet walkable) trail, that follows the right side of the river from the glaciar down to RR, the bridge at the same place is unusable, the river must be crossed higher on the stream. Oficial road from mirador leads back to campamento Italiano on km 151 and then continues West.

4. All the way from CONAF station through Pingo and Zapata campsites is regular trail which we've walked there and back and which we've recorded on GPS. Next to the road there are several miradors and at the end, in the middle of the valley, lies third possible camping spot and a meteorological station.

5. The trail after this spot in still sort of marked but disappears in the bushes. More exploration needed from from this point on.

GPT Hiker's Guide to Torre del Paine NP:

1. If you know exactly what you want to do and when you want it especially in the peak season, buy entrance and reserve all the camp sites in advance to be sure you have your "freedom" there

2. If you don't, then don't bother with booking, they lie about the availability (at least out of the peak season). Buy the entrance (which will be checked by CONAF) and ask at the receptions when you arrive to the campsites. They have places, they just don't say honestly to on the web.

3. If you need freedom or feel stressed when being highly regulated, consider other place. This park has some side affects of tourism overuse.

See Links to other Resources below to make reservations and see the official web pages of Parque Torres del Paine.

Section Log, Alerts and Suggestions

Season 2024/25

• 12-12-24 - 17-12-24 - 4.5 days, NOBO / O+W trek / RR + option 3 / Robin & Manon

Coming from Rio Serrano, we hiked the O+W trek. We took 3+ days entrance for 45kCLP that never got checked. We arrived without reservation at Paine Grande without any problem, don't bother the reservation. We walked to Mirador Británico ar 6am and were almost alone. Incredibly scenic valley. Then we walked to Chileno camping without reservation (38km long day). We got refused at Chileno, but if you negotiate with the guy, there is a very small spot at the end of the camping above the luxury tents for guests. They're not supposed to let you in but they did for 2 tents before us and we did not ask and just joined. Better to avoid this shitty crowded place and stay at central if you really want to go the the Torres base.

We hiked to the Mirador at 5:30 and met a reasonable amount of people. Get in between the sunrise persons and the tourist wave later in the morning. Impressive view, but is it worth the crowd struggle ? Not sure. From a GPT perspective you might be disappointed.

We walked down, got an expensive sandwich at the welcome centre and walked directly to Dickson on an easy track (31km from the welcome centre, 48 in total since Chileno). Dickson is superbe and welcoming. We weren't checked for reservation.

We talked with the conaf to skip Los Perros (closure time theoretically at 7pm.) They were completely chill about that once they understood we were experienced and equipped. Some rules are meant for non-hikers tourists and you can consider not following them.

5 hours walk from Dickson to John Garner pass, absolutely incredible views on the campp de hielo. Coming from the south it's the first time and it's great. We climbed to a shoulder on the ridge of Cerro condor north of the pass, great views.

Grey camping is enormous and you will likely find a spot without reservation. Good resupply there.

The O trek option 3 is incredibly scenic and closer to the long distance hiking spirit. Maybe it should be considered marking it RR instead of the W and it's crowds ?

Season 2023/24

• 2024-Apr-14 to 2024-Apr-17 / 3.5 days / Hiking / RR (W-Treck) / Joscha

Day 1: RR [114.8-121.1]

Because I could not reserve the Campsites from Las Torres online, I decided to not pay for anything in advance and just go to the Torres del Paine park. I went there by bus and at the park entrance a rangerin entered the bus and "controlled" our tickets. She just took a foto from each ticket without looking at it. I had clicked myself a ticket for children below 12 years which is free and she didn't notice. At the Camping Central Sur I just passed by the reception and went to the back end of the campsite. No one checked and therefore I camped for free.

Day 2: RR [121.1-150.6]

I went up to the Torres for sunrise. It took me 2 hours and 45 minutes from camping Central Sur with my full weight pack and including a few water breaks. At km 150.6 the official park trail to Camping Paine Grande leaves the RR. I followed it until Rio del Frances. I crossed the bridge and than left the official park trail by going south directly after the bridge on another trail. The trail vanished after 20 meters and I continued on the riverside a little further. I found a good tentspot at -51.032528, -73.045562 and camped there. Its wind and view protected.

Day 3: RR [150.6-169.0] + OH03 [65.5-55.0]

RR between 161.7 and 162.8 is closed. The official Park trail branches off the RR at km 150.6 and rejoines RR at km 162.8. I camped at Camp Grey. I also just passed the reception and set up my tent at the back end in the forest. I saw some mice, so hang your food (you should probably hang your food at every campsite in this park).

Day 4: OH03 [55.0-65.5] + RR [169.0-191.6]

RR after km 169.0 (Camp Paine Grande) is a nice, easy trail. I only meet two other hikers which was a nice change to the crowded W-Treck. The ranger station at the finish of Section 45 has Wifi. The password is printed inside the station.

Additional Infos: Camping Chileno, Frances and Paine Grande all have wood platforms for the tents. So if you have a tent thats not free standing you might struggle to set it up.

• Feb-25-2024 to March-2-2024 / 7 days / circuit O (OH3) / Matthieu

I won't expand on the parc. If you're a GPT lover you will suffer from the crowd and the luxury campsites, even on the O circuit. Everything is forbidden (cooking in the nature, bathing in lakes, going off the trail...), for obvious massive crowd reasons that I don't question. I think that they kinda keep the parc in good condition with there rules.

I did it with a group of friends so we got all reserved and programmed before, with very expensive cost, but you can easily do it legally and cheaper with a bit of preparation and talk to people in puerto natales. The internet sites of vertice and las torres, the 2 campsites companies, don't work well (or do they ?...), they say that cheap tent spots are full even if there are plenty free when you arrive... better call directly, advise given by a camp worker with whom i spoke about it).

There is no difficulties on the way, I did most of the parc with open summer shoes. Of course bad climate conditions can change the experience. The only thing is the massive presence of mosquitos the 2 first days (camp seron and dickson, ruin your cooking time). I was so happy to have a net on my head, but my friends didnt and suffered from it ! Take your net or your repellant with you !

Apart from this, the mountain, the glaciar, the valleys, the torres, are all wonderful things to see.

Oh2 to connect with rio serrano and GPT46 seems amazing but i hitchhiked this part (See my post on GPT46). The road to rio serrano from the east park entrance is really beautiful also, with miradores and cascadas.

• Frank 03/01 to 06/01 2024 / 4 days / RR & optional route SOBO

1. I got the bus going to Laguna Amarga & got out at the junction 14KM from Laguna Azul. Not much traffic, I got a lift for 11KM then walked 3KM to Laguna Azul. The RR bypasses the Laguna Azul park office & continues outside the park. About 2.5KM up the road there is a puesto (not on the map, I marked its location for the 2024 track file update) The puesto owner was concerned about me getting lost (although navigation is easy) & asked me to report back to him on my return, which I did. There is a good puesto about 2KM before the river. The ford was thigh deep & fast. The best place I found to cross was by going upstream until the near bank cliffs out & crossing just before the cliff. After the crossing an old jeep track (no longer driveable) continues to the second puesto. There are several streams along the way & some sheltered places you can camp on the track but I continued to the puesto, which is about 1KM from the frontier, in 1 long day. Forded the river easily (it was knee deep) before the puesto. There was no one there & I slept in the puesto.

2. I returned to Laguna Azul & slept at the Laguna Azul campsite (see accomodation section) About 7KM from Laguna Azul NOBO a road goes right over a bridge & the RR goes left. There are a few vehicles a day going over the bridge & none continue on the RR. Just as I got to the bridge a van came & I hitched the last 7KM to Laguna Azul. Bought my park entry for the next day online using the campsite wifi.

3. Above Laguna Azul the RR goes SOBO CC on no trail. I continued on the road & after 3.5KM there is a good marked trail going in right which joins & becomes the RR. Followed it to a road junction where the RR again continues CC. I walked on the road to the park entrance. Continued mostly on road to Camping Pehoe. Not recommended as you are on pampa & it's very exposed & windy. At times it was hard to move forward against the wind. This is the main park road & there is quite a bit of traffic so it's dusty. Short section on trail from Laguna Larga. Once you are in the Paine river valley you get some shelter from the wind.

4, Continued from Camping Pehoe to the park exit at Rio Serrano partly on road & sometimes on a faint trail near the road. Walked to Villa Rio Serrano & continued onto GPT46 without entering the village.

• From 01/12/2023 to 05/12/2023 // 5 days // hiking // NOBO // RR // Quentin Clavel

I did the W trek. Not much informations to add than what was previously mentioned. Then I took the walk who go on the way to the border. (better to have an arranged permit if you go there). I haven't got one, and I've been stopped in the way because Rio Zamora was way to dense to pass threw. So I've been back, hitchhiking, passing threw Torres del Paine NP, El Calafate and Los Glaciares NP, then I hiked to the other shore of Rio Zamora (who was less crazy than few days earlier) and I continue my way to the border and to GPT 44.

Nice road until the Argentinian border. 1 river to pass just before the border (50°39′00.81″S 72°46′33.03″W) You have a puesto to rest if needed just before the border.

• 2023-11-24 to 2023-11-27 / 4 days / Hiking / O without W / Fangwen & Tobi

You can find plenty of information about Torres del Paine on the internet, hence just some pointers for GPT hikers: first, the O and especially W is extremely overrun, and many people book half a year in advance. For us, this was not feasible (since we booked one month ahead of time), and we instead went on the 'O' trek minus the 'W' trek (which was booked out). This turned out to be a great option, as it avoided the massive crowds of people going on the W. At the same time, the O is still really scenic (but this is not an exception -- other GPT sections are just as pretty, without the crowds). You can do this trip in as little as 3 nights, spending your first night at Seron, the second night at Los Perros (skipping Dickson), and then Grey. From there, you can either take the ferry out (100usd) or hike on the overcrowded and somewhat less scenic but short trail to Paine Grande and take the ferry out from there (30usd). A note for fast hikers: skipping more than one campsite in one day does not seem to be permitted (?). Furthermore, there are certain trail closure times that you should be aware of. For instance, you must pass Dickson by 2pm (or you will not be allowed onward) and you must pass Los Perros before 7am, making an overnight stop there somewhat mandatory.

Season 2022/23

• 2023-03-30 to 2023-04-06 / 8 days / Hiking / Westbound / RR & Option 8 / Jakub & Veronika

We hiked some parts of GPT45 in Torres del Paine NP. Because we were quite late in the season, we couldn't do the "O" trek so we ended up doing "W" with some extensions. There are two things to mention, one is the reservation system (for that see the "GPT Hiker's Guide below), the other are the optional hikes and some warnings on them. Basically we took the bus to Camping Central, hiked to Base Torres and back, overslept, hiked all the way to Paine Grande Camping (due to lack of places in other camps), next day we went to Mirador Británico by the Rio Frances which was hard to finish (see below), so we tried the other day by the official path (there is a nice circle loop leading threw peatbog so you don't need to walk the same way twice). The next day we continued to Camping Grey, overslept and in the morning continued to Mirador Grey and back for a boat over Lago Grey (with great views of the glacier). From visitor's centre at Glacier bay we hiked Option 8 to Valle Zapata where we spent 3 beautiful days before we came back to Glacier bay and took a bus back to Puerto Natales.

• SoBo / January 2023 / Tobias Schorcht /7 Days / Hiking

Took the bus to Park entrance Laguna Amarga and went 88 km up to the border. Easy walking, nice views, lonely. Funfact: I met 2 builders who are in charge of maintaining the road. They are supposed to start in Dezember this year! In some years (it will take quite a while to build up 15 bridges) there will be a even a border control up there. Payed the Torres del Paine fee for 3 days at Laguna Amarga and walked straight 26 km to Camping Pehoé. It is a good visible, official trail, is barley used. I did not meet any other hiker but a beautiful Puma (Lago Sarmiento). For some parts you have to walk on the road. The views are stunning. The part southbounded (Lago Sarmiento Chico) is the most beautiful one. Left the park at admission Río Serrano and continued with GPT 46.

Resupply and Accommodation

Resupply and Accommodation along the Route

Robin December 2024 - all camping have basic resupply. Especially Paine Grande, Dickson and Grey, you will find gas, pastas, cheese, bread if you're lucky, and junk food (cookies, chips, chocolate) + beers and sodas. Overall very high cost. Bad resupply at Los Perros, Seron. Don't necessarily trust what you hear or read about the camping and reservation. You most likely will find room on the O trek even at the last minute, and Paine Grande and Central campaigns will always have room.

Frank January 2024. There is a good campsite at Laguna Azul 1KM from the park office. The location is marked Laguna Azul Viewpoint on OSM. Camping 12,000 pesos. Wifi, electricity, food & hot water available from 7PM. They have pizza & sandwiches, not expensive. Also sell bread & biscuits. You don't need to have a park entry ticket to stay there.

Camping Pehoe is 15,000 pesos per night. They have a good 4 course evening meal for 25,000 pesos. Shop sells snacks & camping gas at 2-3 times normal prices. Internet only available by buying an expensive token.

Possibility to resupply on all the refugios on torres del Paine. Expansive but possible.

Transport to and from Route

Buses from Puerto Natales to the park starting at 7AM.

Permits, Entry Fees and Right-of-Way Issues

Robin 12/24 - we bought directly tickets from the Rio serrano entrance and never got checked. 45 kCLP for more than 3 days. Trail closure times are indicative. When it's checked, a small discussion with guardaparques can solve the problem. You will probably always find a spot at Paine Grande, Central, Seron, Dickson, Los Perros and Grey campsites without reservation. The other ones (Frances, Cuernos, chileno) are mostly luxury tents, and they will refuse that you pitch your tent. Overall, prefer the camping ran by Vertice company (Paine Grande, Dickson, Los Perros, Grey) (9kCLP/p/d). Avoid the Las Torres campings (Francés, Cuernos, Chileno, Central, Seron) (45kCLP/p/d).

You can no longer buy tickets at the park entrances & should get them online instead. There is no wifi or phone signal at the Laguna Amarga entrance. Park entry is currently $35 US for up to 3 days or $49 for more than 3 days (January 2024 prices) for foreigners. Chileans pay 8000 pesos for up to 3 days & 11,500 for more than 3 days.

Links to other Resources

https://aspticket.cl

https://parquetorresdelpaine.cl