GPT19 (Volcan Puyehue)
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* Start Date to Finish Date (use Format YYYY-MMM-DD) / Duration in Days / Hiking or Packrafting / Travel Direction (SOBO for Southbound or NOBO Northbound) / Chosen Route and/or Option Name (RR for Regular Route) / Names or Alias
Summary with remarks to route that are considered useful for other hikers and packrafters. Include alerts, suggestions and personal perception of attractiveness and difficulties.
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Section Log, Alerts and Suggestions
Season 2025/26
Season 2024/25
Season 2023/24
- 2023-Dec-18 / 5 days / Packrafting / SOBO / RP + RR (Variant D, E) / Lauren & Sebastian
First things first: This section was absolutely spectacular!
Water: We filled our 3L of water each whenever we could and didn’t need to worry; snow from 1350m
We started packrafting at GPT19 start point but had to abandon Lago Maihue after 2km, as head winds were too strong. We hiked south on RH until a bus took us to Rupumeica Bajo. We stayed at the campsite ($) at -40.3143, -71.9913. The owners live in the house across the road.
The next morning we crossed with the packraft to wp Lake {19} [9.6/90]. From there it is a long but enjoyable hike along MRs to wp Bridge {19} [37.3/296] where we camped for the night. Recommend to hitchhike this part if you can, as the heat and heavy backpack (due to full food supplies), made this road walking tiring - and you will need your strength and endurance later! There is a water point at -40.3757, -72.0647.
The next day we went along RR and met Hector and Neri on our way to their place. They were heading out in their truck but we had a short and lovely chat with them. We passed the two locked gates on Option D and connected by Option E back on RR. We camped at -40.4721, -72.1247 at 1100m, a nice flat spot in the upper part of the forest. It is less than an hour from wp Water ? {19} [53.5/1330] where we refilled the next morning.
Breaking out of the forest into the plateau was breathtaking. Snow was mushy and walkable with trail shoes and hiking poles. Progress is slow. Keep a close eye on your gps to avoid backtracking. It took us 2 days to cross the plateau and we camped a night there with initially windy conditions that eased. There are a few good flat spots around the halfway mark on the plateau. Snow also gradually decreases after the pass and trail visibility improves. We then stayed a night at wp Refuge Without Water {19} [73.8/1378]. There is water at the refuge now, but filling up at one of the water points further up felt easier and more accessible to us.
From the refuge down to the end of GPT 19 is steep at first, but good and easily findable trail (approximately 3 hours).
- 2023-Dec-04 / 4 days / Packrafting / SOBO /RR (Option 04A) / Roman
Hitchhiked to started packrafting here Port {19} [2.9/103] (Puerto Maqueo) easy access to water. Very good conditions (10:00 am). Went on land and followed the RR. Very good condition. Like in 02/23 locked gate and no one around at Hector and Neri’s place. Pitched tent at -40.480692, -72.135769. Snow starts at 1350m. Water was available. I would recommend having sunglasses (preferably glacier sunglasses), suncream, and a hat. The next 2 days were hiking on snow with constant snow exposure. The snow was a bit slushy but manageable. The trail was due to the snow not visible but you can just follow the GPS. Went from the RR via Option 04A to the Volcano and back. Slept at the Hut. Water was available due to the melting of snow. The way down is easy. Hitchhiked to Entre Lagos.
Overall: good trail, nice views no major changes would definitely recommend it.
Contact: https://linktr.ee/RundW
- 2023-Nov-29 / 2 days / Hiking / SOBO / OH-02A + OH-02 + RR (Variant D, E and G) / Tom Pieper
I first attempted to make my way to the plateau by Option 02A. This is not possible as the entire lower trail lies within the private park Parque Futangeu. The entrance fee would be $15.000, camping is forbidden and access to the upper parts is blocked by private property of one of the park owners. Park is strictly fenced and has a guarda del parque. So this is definetly no Option for ascent but maybe for leaving the plateau NOBO. I easily catched a ride on Option 2 to the RR. The gate to Neri and Hectors place was locked, therefore i passed the two locked gates on Option D and connected by Option E back on RR. As others mentioned water is scarce all the way up, but a little creek can be easily accessed from Option D just 200 m after Option E has branched (S 40° 25.785' W 072° 06.839'). Good camping spots when Option G reenters RR. Saw wild boar nearby. Snow starts apruptly at 1300 m within the forest. Mystic atmosphere but hard walking. Lots of patagonian woodpeckers around. Snow increases gradually and I decided to leave my backpack near the Water ? {19} [53.5/1330] which was nearly covered by snow but provides already fresh water. At the rim of the plateau (1550 m) the views were spectacular but the plateau is impassable right now as it has meters of snow there. So I returned back the same way to Rininahue.
Season 2022/23
- 2023-Feb-04 to 2023-Feb-07 / 3.5 days / Hiking / SOBO / RR / Martin & Helena
Great section, after a lot of forrest trails it was nice to see again something totally different and quite similiar to the landscape of GPT06. We were a little irresponsible with the water so better plan carefully.
The beginning around the lake is just road walking with quite a lot of traffic, depending on the weekday, but its better to avoid it, we didn’t feel always safe with more cars passing by. There should be ferry that goes on the other side of the lake. Good restaurant at around km 2-3, the one with empanadas to go in the house above the restaurant (reealy good). We camped behind a gate at km 5.7, below one of the miradors. At Hueinahue we went down to the beach we have seen from the road, hoping to buy some food, but nothing was there except of crowds of people. We crossed the river to get back on the road, but it would have been better to return back really. MR continues for the next almost 30km, but its quite nice walking through forrest and around settlements. Food truck with empanadas and some drinks at km 23 was a nice surprise, but might be there only in summer. Great place to camp by laguna at km 31, but its shores are all muddy.
Bridge at km 37 is the last reliable source of water so keep it in mind! When we got to the start of option 03, there was only locked gate and no one around at Hector and Neri’s place. Because of that we went with 03, and after 2 locked gates joined the CC variant and back on the RR. There is probably some tiny stream at the CC part but not easily accessible. The way up on the RR already was relatively easy with a few fallen trees that you can always walk around. We were hoping to find some water at km 53.5 or the one next to it but it was all dry already, just like many creeks that we have seen over the treeline. This became a problem for us, and the first water we found was at the big plateau you have to descent to in order to continue to the lava field and further. We didnt turn left at the beginning but continued straight to a few snowfields that are still big enough and on a hot day we could gather water from the snowmelt. From that point its about half a day to the next water (close to the start of descent down to the refugio and valley) so again good to take as much as you can. We didn’t have to pay anything at the end of the section as someone told us, this might be the case only in NOBO direction, or it was because we went there later in the evening. We camped on a yard of family living across the road for 5k CLP, they sell some basic food and its possible to have a shower there as well. Bus to Osorno and Entre Lagos as well leaves early in the morning around 7 AM we think but rather ask.
Contact: @martin_hanzelka @helenneka
- 2023-JAN-10 - 2023-JAN-13 / 3 days / hiking / RR + volcan summit + termas - round trip from south / Louis, Rémi & Noé :
I wanted to precise one thing that I haven't understand : Santiago has a restaurant, near the road and a refuge (waypoint refuge no water). You have to check in at the restaurant to pay the 15k CLP /pers. This price includes a night in the refuge (there is nobody in there), access to volcano and a night at the camping near the restaurant (with cold shower for free).
Day 1 - Refugio El Caulle - 8km - +1000m/-0m First day going up to the refuge. We took the bus from Osorno, the only one going to Anticura leaves at 6pm but you have plenty of others going to Termas de Puyehue (going to Aguas Calientes). From there, 15km of hitchike, very easy. Then, the rise until the refuge in a beautiful and green forest. There is water upward the refuge, 15min walk.
Day 2 - Volcan Puyehue + camp El Domo - 13km - +1300m/-1100m The caldeira of the volcano is superb ! the path is well traced until the summit. Then, we did the round of it and went down on the opposite side. We camped at the "El Domo" camp, located on Santiago's map, around km XX. Water is available just before it.
Day 3 - Termas - 17km - +700m/-900m Under the rain, it's not easy to navigate on the volcanic plateau. I would say that a navigation device is mandatory. Hot springs are very enjoyable after such a day under the rain. There is drinkable water before the hot springs (1km).
Day 4 - Back to Restaurant El Caulle on RR - 32km - +1300m/-2400m A long day, even longer under the rain but doable. The restaurant was closed when we arrived (a Monday at 7pm). Santiago selled us basic food (pasta, sauce, eggs (a bit expensive)) and he opened the doors of his barn for us to sleep dry. The only bus going down from here to Osorno leaves at 7:30am.
- 2023-JAN / Frank
Option OH-001 crossing Rio Corrigue: this section barely exists as large parts have been taken back by bamboo. It is now a severe & sustained bamboo bash requiring huge effort to crawl, break & climb through at about 1 kilometre per hour. Try RR or other options instead.
- 2023-Jan-05 / 4 days / hiking / SOBO / RR / Frank
I came from GPT18. Before Lago Maihue there are a couple of small shops & a restaurant. As you go around Lago Maihue on the road there are a lot of $ campsites, then the road climbs high above the lake before dropping to Rio Hueinahue. I forded the river easily & went down to Camping Rupimeca at the lake, about 1KM off route. Good cheap campsite, no electricity but they will charge your phone at the house. Next day I continued to Hector & Neri's house but they weren't around. I went in on the alternative route which goes right on a road just before Hector & Niri's place. It's marked private with two locked gates but there was no one there. Stream near the road but difficult to access - running in a gully & blocked by vegetation. After several attempts I was able to access the stream higher up & camped nearby. Just before the alternative route rejoins the RR from Hector & Niri's house there is a stream, if you drop down right a few hundred metres from RR onto the alternative route here you can get water. The water sources marked near the treeline were tiny stagnant pools & they are a bit off trail. However, in early January there was plenty of water above treeline from snowmelt. Did the spectacular traverse in one long day. The snowfields could be traversed or avoided fairly easily. Fill up with water before you descend to the hut. There was no water at the hut & on the trail out to the road the marked water sources were only tiny trickles. Carry a few litres of water up to the hut if you are NOBO. There was no one at the entrance & I hitched out to Entre Lagos.
- 2023-JAN-28 - 2023-JAN-30 / 3 days / hiking / NOBO / Yannic & Mirjam
Much has already been explained in great detail, so we will be brief: We saw no one at the entrance and therefore walked through without paying an entrance fee. The two water streams in the forest are dry and there is no water directly at the refugio. However, there are still snowfields about 1-2 km further up from the refugio which provide enough water. There was still enough water at 68.6. After that, there were still isolated snowfields, but partly further away from the trail. We spent the night between the lava rocks at S 40.53312 / W 72.16869, as there were still snowfields there, which we used for drinking water. After that, there was no more water until we reached Neri and Hector's house. The two of them were so nice and filled up our water. They charged an entrance fee of 5,000 CLP per person. Because of language barriers, we weren't sure if it was voluntary or because we couldn't show a ticket from the other entrance. Anyway, we paid and moved on. Hitchhiking to Rininahue went quite well once you are on the bigger Minor Road T-851.
- 2023-JAN-26 - 2023-JAN-29 / 4 days / hiking / SOBO / Riñinahue (option 2) - Volcán Puyehue (option 4B) - Licán / Anna & Christopher
From Panguipulli we took a bus at 8:40 am to Los Lagos (on a thursday). From there we took another bus to Paillaco at 11:30 am and got off at the cruce Reumén/Futrono. The connecting bus to Futrono passed there around 12:20 pm. From Futrono we took a bus to Llifén at 13:15 pm. From there we hitchhiked until the junction of Option 2 with the RR at km 37 approx. and arrived there around 17:00 pm. On the way up to Los Venados there is one accessible creek approx. 2,5 km before Los Venados. When we arrived there the gate following the RR was locked. As we didn't wanted to dry camp (we didn't fill up our bottles at the creek) we tried to get access to the river following variant D. It's definitely not possible to get water there, the forest is too dense and its getting too steep to climb down. So we went back and luckily after a while Hector and Neri arrived. They offered us to stay at their Refugio the night as it was already quite late.
The way up to the plateau is a good path. We collected some water from the northern "water?" waypoint around km 53,5. As Véronica mentioned there are only some shallow pools, but with clear water. On the plateau there are still some creeks from the snowmelt, but not that many so better carry some water. Around km 65 we saw in the valley on the left hand side a nicely flowing creek (off the RR) and decided to camp there. Its a detour of about 15-20min.
The next day we woke up to a clear blue sky and therefore decided to climb the volcano and to take the surrounding variant. On the ascent we didn't follow the GPS, which was a bad idea, as we ended up in a steep scree traverse/sketchy rock climbing. So it took us a lot of time to reach the ridge. Once there we enjoyed the amazing views! Walking around the crater got more and more tiring with all the ups and downs, but it's worth it! It was our favorite section so far. We collected some snowmelt water on the descent and camped at the Refugio (no water there).
The path down from the Refugio is in good conditions. From Licán we got a ride directly to Puerto Montt.
Season 2021/22
Season 2020/21
- 2021-Dec-19 / Molly and Melissa / GPT21 Northbound - RR + ascent of summit:
4 days - skipping some of the gravel road along the lake
We went from Osorno to Puyehue, as the bus driver said that no buses went any further. From there we were quickly able to hitch a ride to Lican which is the start of the minor road. It's a couple of kilometres before Anticura. It would also be possible to walk, from Puyehue to Lican is about 10 km. We walked up to the restaurant and met a man who lives close by, he told us Santiago wasn't home, but he could take our payment. As others have written, Santiago wants to know the names and approximate schedule of everyone going towards the volcano. We slept at his camp site as well, it has flushing toilets and showers in a shed, it doesn't cost extra.
Volcán Puyehue:
In short: Snow is no longer a problem, but there is still enough to create little streams, so carrying 1-1,5 L of water each was fine for us. Beautiful but tough. Navigation is okay when using the GPS.
The first of the little streams marked as water on the GPS while climbing up through the forest was dry, the other was still running. We passed the refugio, which has quite a few bunk beds without mattresses. From there the path towards the volcano is quite clear through the grass, and is marked with frequent cairns further up so the navigation here is quite easy all the way to the top. We left our bags on the main route which was a good decision, it was very steep with very loose small volcanic rocks. The view from up there was amazing. When continuing past the volcano, there is a trail for about three kilometres more, but after that it's pure cross country. With the GPS it's not that hard to navigate, but clear weather is necessary and the terrain is tough, especially when passing between the lava fields. We found that the Locus Maps showed a different route than the GPS. We still found quite a few streams, especially when still near the volcano, if there's snow there's probably still some water. The snow is no problem for walking though. The first water? was pretty big and will probably last some time, but the second was really small, but there are several other streams as well. There's also more water in the afternoon when more snow has melted. All in all climbing from the camping, climbing the volcano and traversing the plateau took us two days of walking. It could be done in less, but would be tough. We got quite sunburned even though we used sunscreen, it's very exposed!
We had no trouble with finding the trail on the other side, it already starts being clear before reaching the forest. After that it's mostly just easy walking on gravel roads. When going northbound there is an alternative route around Hector and Neri's place that seems easier, we opted for the overgrown route to their house because we wanted to see if we could buy some bread, they didn't sell any though, but we had a nice chat with Hector as he let us through their locked gate. They later drove us about a kilometre when they passed us. The gravel road was a bit tedious and very hot, and hard to find good camping spots. The one marked on the GPS was behind a fence and some dense vegetation, but a little earlier it was possible to go through a gate to a little lake. We were told that there were many pumas and that we couldn't drink the water from the lake, we drank from a little stream going to the lake instead, and we didn't see any pumas.
Rio Hueinahue:
We were able to cross the river without problems, it went to mid- thigh height and we are both around 160 cm tall. The current wasn't too strong either. We have had quite a few warm, dry days before.
On the road along the lake we were passed by a bus going to Valdivia which we jumped on happily, so coming off the trail could not have been easier. It passed through Maihue and Futrono as well.
- 2021-Dec-03 / Alex Abramov / GPT19: Volcán Puyehue. Northbound.
The "Plateau" still has a LOT of snow.
Season 2019/20
- Feb 2020 / Matthieu / RR + ascent of the summit + OH to the Hot Springs, Northbound
Great section, amazing views, no technical difficulties with the trails and cross country..
- 16-01-2020 / Arnaud Debilly / Southbound 4 full days
After the forest, the volcanic terrain is very easy to walk in and the landscapes are wonderful. We saw many smokes from the volcanic activity but seemed not dangerous. Check the status of the volcano before to go (www.sernageomin.cl).
Season 2018/19
Season 2017/18
Season 2016/17
Resupply and Accommodation
Resupply and Accommodation in nearby Towns
- Nothing in Rupumeica. Little shops in Maqueo and Maihue. A lot of camping sites, free and payable, along the Lago Maihue.
- 2023 -round trip from south / Louis, Rémi & Noé :
Santiago has a restaurant, near the road and a refuge (waypoint refuge no water). You have to check in at the restaurant to pay the 15k CLP /pers. This price includes a night in the refuge (there is nobody in there), access to volcano and a night at the camping near the restaurant (with cold shower for free).
To Restaurant El Caulle on RR - 32km - +1300m/-2400m. The restaurant was closed when we arrived (a Monday at 7pm). Santiago selled us basic food (pasta, sauce, eggs (a bit expensive)) and he opened the doors of his barn for us to sleep dry. The only bus going down from here to Osorno leaves at 7:30am.
Resupply and Accommodation along the Route
- 2023 / Anna & Christopher
Stayed at Hector qnd Neri Refugio for the night.
- 2020 / Martina & Ivo
In Anticura we found accommodation, but we didn't look for resupply, which is probably not so easy...
- 2020 / Arnaud Debilly
We ressuplied in Curiñe, with a minimatket there. We slept in the cabañas of Carmen Panguilef (+56 984 54 83 03) in rupumeica bajo who is very welcoming and a proud mapuche.
WATER : NO WATER at the first refuge down the volcano, you got to go a little bit further up and west. "Water 12?" wasnt working when I was though, but there was a last stream after before going west to the desert ( at the div 128).You have a good half day of walking without water, so take some supply with you. The water comes back just before the div 126, on a place which looks like a dry lake, with little streams coming down some frozen snow. There is another part without water, that begins a little after Div 126 until the refuge of Neri and Hector. I personnaly thought easy to find water in the forest and got really thirsty because of that. There was nobody in the refuge, so I could find water a few meters after the north gate of the house, following a little trail that went on the right side, directly in the forest and to the river. (A little bit of bush bashing at the end, next to the river). Further on the road down there was some other rivers and there and good camping sites. You join the real road at bridge 63 and no problems of water after.
Transport to and from Route
- 2023 / Martin & Helena
Bus to Osorno and Entre Lagos as well leaves early in the morning around 7 AM we think but rather ask.
- 2023 / Anna & Christopher
From Panguipulli we took a bus at 8:40 am to Los Lagos (on a thursday). From there we took another bus to Paillaco at 11:30 am and got off at the cruce Reumén/Futrono. The connecting bus to Futrono passed there around 12:20 pm. From Futrono we took a bus to Llifén at 13:15 pm. From there we hitchhiked until the junction of Option 2 with the RR at km 37 approx.
- 2021/ Molly and Melissa
We went from Osorno to Puyehue, as the bus driver said that no buses went any further. From there we were quickly able to hitch a ride to Lican which is the start of the minor road.
- 2020 / Arnaud Debilly
To avoid the 15 first kilometers we took the bus from puerto Maihue to Rupumeica Bajo.
- 2021 / Molly and Melissa
On the road along the lake we were passed by a bus going to Valdivia which we jumped on happily, so coming off the trail could not have been easier. It passed through Maihue and Futrono as well.
Permits, Entry Fees and Right-of-Way Issues
- You have to pay the entry of the private property in Lican, at the camping/restaurant of the base of the volcano (10 000 CLP). The owner is called Santiago.
Links to other Resources
Retired Section Article GPT19 - Volcán Puyehue
