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If you are traveling anywhere between Coyhaique and Puyuhuapi on Carretera Austral in Chile’s Patagonia, you will surely be visiting the incredible Vestisquero Colgante, as known as the hanging glacier, at Queulat National Park. It is a wild place where you will find moderate jungles, sharp valleys, Andeans icefields and mountains, and South-Pacific channels and fjords.
The hanging glacier at Queulat National Park
Queulat National Park has neither been discovered nor colonized, so it still remains as a remote and unexplored part of Chile. The park was opened to the public on October 13, 1983, and the most popular attraction in this park is Ventisquero Colgante, aka the Hanging Glacier.
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Location
The hanging glacier in Queulat National Park is 23-kilometers away from its nearest town, Puyuhuapi, a beautiful and peaceful fishing village. It is a remote place for travelers to enjoy aquamarine sports, fishing trips, spa treatments, and craftsmanship.
Puyuhuapi, a quaint fishing village on Carretera Austral, Patagonia, Chile
Getting to Queulat National Park: a dreadful road trip in Patagonia
There is a bus departing daily from Puyuhuapi to the park but the schedule is unreliable and the price is exorbitant for a 30-minute ride, so I decided to hitchhike, which is a common way of travel through Carretera Austral.
Luckily, the hostel owner’s son was on his way to the park, so she asked me to hitch a ride with him with two French guests, Paul and Anna. Though we were happy that we did not need to stand on the road and wait for a ride, it turned out that this 23km ride to the Queulat National Park was a terrible experience.
There were serious road constructions taking place with traffic lights and impatient drivers. The part where the construction work was going on was a one-lane road, so we had to wait for vehicles in the opposite direction to pass. Unfortunately, this never happened.
The road was blocked on both sides for the road work and there was little communication on how long the road would be opened to us to cross. We queued up for an hour and a half before we saw a boat and hopped on it to cross the river to the other side. When we returned, we spent another 90 minutes in the car for the same routine. We lost hours waiting on the road and what was supposed to be a few hours’ trip turned into a very long day.
This is the part where the road blocked on both sides for construction work
The boat ride was less than ten minutes but it did offer some stunning panoramic views of the lake and the mountains in the remote region of Patagonia.
When the boat comes, the pressure still goes on, as the boat can only hold limited number of vehicles.
Queulat National Park entrance fee and hours
Admission to Queulat National Park is CLP $4000 for adult foreigners. The park is open daily until 4pm-5pm.
The signpost and the map at Queulat National Park entrance | photo credit: Neil Wilkie via Flicker
Hike to the hanging glacier
The only way to reach the glacier is to hike in and there are several different trails designed for people with all ages and physicality. Among them, Iceberg Lagoon circuit is very short at 600 meters, and the trail is flat. We decided to walk on the Mirador Trail, which is a 3.3 km one-way hike through the enchanted forest leading us to a higher observation platform facing the glacier and the turquoise lagoon underneath.
Follow the map, we turned left from the ticket office and crossed through the suspension bridge with a raging river underneath. We then entered the forest where the real hike began.
Crossing suspension bridge with raging river underneath inside Queulat National Park
The difficulty level of this hike is medium, as it marked on the map. The path is unpaved and flat at the beginning. Shortly after, the ascent begins. At some point, the trail becomes dodgy with trees blocking the path, poorly maintained stairs high up to my knees, and plenty of mud and swamps that we needed to hop around. I would recommend that you wear a pair of waterproof boots so you do not get your feet wet if you accidentally step into the mud.
Hike in the enchanged forest to the hanging Glacier | photo credit: Cristian Gonzalez G via Flicker
After two hours hiking in the forest and a small creek crossing, we arrived at the observation platform with a panoramic view of the glacier. The glacier was hanging on the mountains and formed a waterfall constantly running off and dropping into the Ventisquero River and lagoon. The vista is incredible and even the cloudy day did not ruin how beautiful this glacier is.
Ventisquero Colgante: view of the hanging glacier on a cloudy day
On a sunny day, you can see the mountains and lagoons surrounding the hanging glacier in its full beauty and glory. If you are lucky, you can even see the glacier melting into the water and creating an explosive sound.