Chiloé Island also known as Greater Island of Chiloé, is the largest island of the Chiloé Archipelago off the west coast of Chile, in the Pacific Ocean. The island is located in southern Chile, in the Los Lagos Region.
Los Lagos Region is one of Chile's 16 regions, which are first order administrative divisions, and comprises four provinces: Chiloé, Llanquihue, Osorno and Palena. The region contains the country's second largest island, Chiloé, and the second largest lake, Llanquihue. Its capital is Puerto Montt; other important cities include Osorno, Castro, Ancud, and Puerto Varas. The mainland portion of Los Lagos Region south of Reloncaví Sound is considered part of Patagonia.
Puerto Montt is a port city and commune in southern Chile, located at the northern end of the Reloncaví Sound in the Llanquihue Province, Los Lagos Region, 1,055 km to the south of the capital, Santiago. The commune spans an area of 1,673 km2 (646 sq mi) and has a population of 245,902 in 2017. It is bounded by the communes of Puerto Varas to the north, Cochamó to the east and southeast, Calbuco to the southwest and Maullín and Los Muermos to the west.
Palena Province is the southernmost administrative area in Chile's Los Lagos Region Los Lagos (X). The area is also called Continental Chiloe or Northern Patagonia, as geographers consider the Palena Province to be the starting point of Chilean Patagonia which extends south from Palena all the way to Tierra del Fuego. Palena Province is remote, beautiful, and difficult to access. In fact, Palena is one of the most sparsely populated provinces in the country and features a stunning geography characterized by steep fjords, wild rivers, hot springs, and numerous snow-capped volcanos. Chile's Austral Highway is not continuous through the jagged geography of Palena Province. Motorists accessing the area by car are required to take two ferries across fjords to cross the province.
Quellón is a Chilean port city and commune in Chiloé Province, in southern Chiloé Island, Los Lagos Region. It is one of the southern end-stations of the Panamerican Highway and the Pacific Coast Highway. The city is a hub for aquaculture and fisheries in southern Chiloé and the Guaitecas and Chonos archipelagoes to the south. Various ferry lanes connects Quellón with the Patagonian settlements such as Melinka, Puerto Cisnes and Puerto Chacabuco.
The Carretera Austral is the name given to Chile's Route 7. The highway runs south for about 1,240 kilometers (770 mi) from Puerto Montt to Villa O'Higgins, passing through rural Patagonia.
The Central Valley, Intermediate Depression, or Longitudinal Valley is the depression between the Chilean Coastal Range and the Andes Mountains. The Chilean Central Valley extends from the border with Peru to Puerto Montt in southern Chile, with a notable interruption at Norte Chico. South of Puerto Montt the valley has a continuation as a series of marine basins up to the isthmus of Ofqui. Some of Chile's most populous cities lie within the valley including Santiago, Temuco, Rancagua, Talca and Chillán.
Reloncaví Sound or Seno de Reloncaví is a body of water immediately south of Puerto Montt, a port city in the Los Lagos Region of Chile. It is the place where the Chilean Central Valley meets the Pacific Ocean.
Corcovado Volcano is a stratovolcano located about 25 kilometres (16 mi) south of the mouth of the Yelcho River, in the Palena Province, Los Lagos Region, Chile. The glacially eroded volcano is flanked by Holocene cinder cones. The volcano's base has likely prehistoric lava flows that are densely vegetated. The most distinctive feature of this volcano is its stepped top, similar to that of Puntiagudo Volcano. At its foot lies a series of lakes. Corcovado dominates the landscape of the Gulf of Corcovado area and is visible from Chiloé Island, weather permitting.
Corcovado National Park is an 2,940-square-kilometre (726,000-acre) preserved area of Valdivian temperate rainforest, high peaks, alpine lakes, and rivers in Chile's Los Lagos Region. This coastal park borders the Gulf of Corcovado to the west and includes the iconic volcanoes Corcovado and Yanteles. This preserved area has one public access trail along the Carretera Austral.
Yanteles is an isolated stratovolcano composed of five glacier-capped peaks along an 8 km-long NE-trending ridge. It is located approximately 30 km (19 mi) south of the Corcovado volcano in the Chilean X Region within the Corcovado National Park. The name Yanteles can refer only to the main summit, which is also known as Volcán Nevado.
The Zona Austral is one of the five natural regions into which CORFO divided continental Chile in 1950 corresponding to the Chilean portion of Patagonia. It is surrounded by the Zona Sur and the Chacao Channel to the north, the Pacific Ocean and Drake's Passage to the south and west, and the Andean mountains and Argentina to the east. If excluding Chiloé Archipelago, Zona Austral covers all of Chilean Patagonia.
Chaitén is a Chilean town, commune and former capital of the Palena Province in Los Lagos Region. The town is north of the mouth of Yelcho River, on the east coast of the Gulf of Corcovado. The town is strategically close to the northern end of the Carretera Austral, where the highway goes inland. The Desertores Islands are part of the commune.
Futaleufú is a Chilean town and commune located in Northern Patagonia. Located at the confluence of the Espolon and Futaleufú river valleys, the town is approximately 10 kilometers from the Argentinian border. Futaleufú is the provincial capital of Palena Province, Los Lagos Region. Futaleufú, known locally as “Futa,” is a frontier town with a growing tourism industry based on adventure tourism—most specifically whitewater rafting—but also fishing, mountain biking, trekking, and canyoning. Due to its proximity to the Argentinian border, Futaleufú is most easily accessed from airports in Esquel and Bariloche, Argentina. Other tourists access the town through the Northern Patagonia Airport in Chaiten, or vía a system of ferries that leave from the closest major Chilean city, Puerto Montt.
The southern coast of Chile presents a large number of fjords and fjord-like channels from the latitudes of Cape Horn to Reloncaví Estuary. Some fjords and channels are important navigable channels providing access to ports like Punta Arenas, Puerto Chacabuco and Puerto Natales.
Mitchell Fjord is a 30- to 50-km long fjord in Aysén Region, Chile, stretching southeast from the vicinities of Baker Channel into the valley of Bravo River. Through a ferry based on Puerto Yungay, the channel provides access to the southernmost portion of Carretera Austral and constitutes thus the only discontinuous section of Carretera Austral south of Chaitén.
Chaitén Airfield was an airport serving Chaitén, a town in the Los Lagos Region of Chile. The airport was damaged and closed after the 2008 eruption of Chaitén Volcano.
Puerto Cárdenas is a lakeside hamlet at the outflow of Yelcho Lake in Chaitén commune, southern Chile. Carretera Austral passes by the hamlet.
Caleta La Arena is a small town on the northern edge of Reloncaví Estuary, in the commune of Puerto Montt, Los Lagos Region Chile.
Candelario Mancilla is a small settlement in the Aysén Region of southern Chile, located at the shores of the lake O'Higgins/San Martín. It is 16 kilometers to the north from the border with Argentina, and is a key point on the tourist route Villa O'Higgins - El Chaltén. The settlement is connected to the rest of Chile via ferry to Villa O'Higgins where Carretera Austral ends.
