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Section 2: Click on the "i"s above for information and photos of the route. |
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h. Free campspot north of Hueicolla on the Pacific
A small parks building on the left sits opposite the difficult-to-see junction to Corral. A little way past the building there is a place to ford the river to get to the free campspot. The river ford to the campspot is tidal, at low tide it is around one foot deep, at high tide around two. The rocks are neither slippery nor sharp. The road on the other side is a dirt track, soon opening out into a field with rudimentary benches and fire pits. Past a few lines of flax between camping areas, sand dunes border the beach itself. Tide can come high on the beach but the entire area is legal to camp from the fields through to the waterline. The site is largely used by weekenders from La Union enjoying a break by the oceanside. All around this area blackberry bushes are prolific, and in February - March it's a fruit lovers heaven.
Options from the campspot:
- Continue to Corral - Back over the ford and up the river around 100 meters is another crossing. This goes to a road that heads up the headland and through tree plantations towards Corral and the ferry to Valdivia. After a few hours of natural woodland, the scenery turns into eucalyptus farms and logged areas. The area of natural beauty is short lived, there are few views of the ocean, and the road only descends to the beach at and after Chaihuin where the bus service to Corral begins. There is the occasional derelict logging camp and water is available at streams but the land is farmed rather than natural.
- Continue to the Rio Bueno - Past Hueicolla the road continues along the coast to the Rio Bueno, from there it is possible to catch a boat upriver and to return to La Union.
- Head back - reverse the route taken to get here.
There is no public transport to or from Hueicolla so hikers must continue on foot or by hitching. Most of the visitors out here are from La Union and on a Sunday afternoon almost all head back to town, offering some chance of a lift. The rest of the week the road is little traveled.
The beach is well worth exploring before leaving - vultures, penguins, fisherman and rocks covered with plant-life may be enjoyed. The sea can be rough in this section, swimming would probably be better done around in the bay near Hueicolla.
| S | 40°08.816' |
| W | 73°39.104' |