By land water and air Logo
All Routes

Walk overview

General Argentinian route information

Rio Villegas to the waterfall

  1. Buses and Rio Villegas
  2. Hiking along the Rio Manso road
  3. Suspension bridge across the manso
  4. Meadows and flatlands along the Rio Manso
  5. Fences to avoid on the Rio Manso
  6. Rio Manso - easy camping
  7. The waterfall marked on the map

The waterfall to the Argentine - Chilean border

  1. El Manso: Rafting campsite, restaurant and minimart
  2. Argentinian customs - Gendarmeria Nacional
  3. The case of the missing refugio
  4. Crossing the Argentina-Chile border

General Chilean route information

Paso El Leon to Torrentoso

  1. Chilean Carabineros, border crossing and the hamlet of El Leon
  2. A rangers' forest camp
  3. Conditions along the route
  4. The turn towards Torrentoso

Torrentoso to end of Lago Vidal Gormaz

  1. Torrentoso turning
  2. Camping at the south end of Lago Vidal Gormaz
  3. Along Lago Vidal Gormaz
  4. Food supplies at the north end of the lake
  5. Route to virgin rainforest

Lago Vidal Gormaz to La Junta

  1. Lakes in the rainforest
  2. Junction of two rivers and two paths
  3. El Arco refugio and natural bridge
  4. La Junta refugio

La Junta to Cochamo

  1. Granite cliffs and La Junta campground
  2. Trail conditions along the last leg of the path
  3. End of the path from Argentina
  4. Main road to Cochamo and Campo Aventura
  5. Cochamo and civilization
Map of the route from the waterfall to the Argentina-Chile border, all image map links are available from the textual links on this page Rafting campsite, restaurant and minimart Argentinian customs - Gendarmeria Nacional Area where the refugio was supposed to be hiding Actual border between the two countries
part g Section 2: Click on the "i"s above for information and photos of the route. part i

h. El Manso: The end of the road - rafters, campers and supplies

The bridge over to El Manso is a nice detour to take as it leads to a camp full of smiling people at the end of their rafting trip having dinner, camping or buying supplies at the mini-mercado for the next trip down the river. The restaurant provides set menus for 15 pesos a head, it all looked good and the customers seemed very happy. The mini-mercado carried basics such as eggs, tuna, oil, cold beer, chocolate, polenta, rice and other standard fare, it's a little over priced but probably not as much as you'd expect. There is a little section of beach below the camping and picnic area that is in a quiet section of the river. For those who hitched or bussed to the end of the road, this is where to cross the bridge to begin your hike to the border.