After months of preparation, infrastructure maintenance, wildlife monitoring and training for volunteers and tour operators, the high season has officially begun in the Cochamó Valley, one of the country’s main mountain destinations. The organizations in charge of managing tourism in this area, made up mostly of private land, anticipate the arrival of more than 15,000 visitors between December and March, and also call on tourists to book their stay in advance and respect the rules of the place.

The Cochamó Valley is known as one of the most emblematic mountain and nature tourism destinations in Chile. Its main tour includes a 12-kilometer hike or horseback ride along the historic Paso El León trail, a medium-high difficulty route that leads to unique, well-preserved landscapes, composed of granite walls and ancient larch forests, home to important species such as the Patagonian Vizcacha, the Monito del monte and the Güiña. Due to the Valley’s capacity for tourism, several organizations that work there are calling for reservations and preparing the trip in advance. Currently, the Valley has 60% of its capacity reserved.

Inspired by the functioning of public and private protected areas in our country and abroad, the Cochamó Valley Organization, ONG Puelo Patagonia, Asociación de Arrieros de Cochamó, and the Cochamó Andean Club, among others, have implemented important management measures in the area to guarantee its conservation and promote a positive and safe experience for visitors. Tourism regulation seeks to benefit both the local economy and care for the forests, glaciers, wetlands, and rivers.

A key measure to manage mass tourism was the implementation of a reserve system that seeks to protect this place and avoid overloading it. By establishing a carrying capacity limit, since 2016 it has been possible to mitigate the effects of mass tourism such as garbage management, camping in unauthorized places, contamination of watercourses, fire risk, destruction of native flora, among others.

Tatiana Sandoval, president of the Cochamó Valley Organization, says that the work of the volunteers and organizations that work there is key. “Managing this place involves a lot of costs associated with infrastructure and administration. For example, to maintain a trail or carry out a rescue operation you need man hours and resources, so we always call on people to respect the work and the place.

These measures mitigate the effects of water contamination, garbage, and the imminent risk of forest fires that existed before the reserve system. “After implementing this system, we have seen how the profile of visitors has changed towards more conscious people who understand that each visit they make generates an impact on the place,” adds Sandoval.

For several years, 32 volunteers have been in charge of registering visitors and guarding trails at different points in the valley basin. And from this season, 8 more volunteers will be added, focused on supporting the areas of Lago Vidal Gormaz, Torrentoso and Paso El León, sectors that are part of the La Herradura circuit.

“Expanding tourism management in these remote places contributes to the visitor’s experience, but above all it is a direct benefit to the economy of the families that live isolated in the mountains and are dedicated to this activity,” says Andrés Amengual, director of the NGO Puelo Patagonia and in charge of the territorial work of the Conserva Pucheguin initiative.

To visit the Cochamó Valley and access the La Junta sector, where the campsites are located and where the trekking starts, it is essential to book in advance at https://reservasvallecochamo.cl/. This system ensures respect for the carrying capacity of the area and minimizes the impact on nature.

A tourist destination with a view to total conservation

Only 38% of this site has official protection thanks to the recent declaration of the Cochamó Valley Nature Sanctuary, whose management plan will begin to be implemented in the first half of 2025 by the Cochamó Valley Organization with technical support from the NGO Puelo Patagonia.

However, what many do not know is that 62% of the valley is made up of private land. Iconic sites such as Cerro Trinidad, Anfiteatro and El Arco, located on the south side of the valley, are part of the 133,000 hectares of Puchegüín, a private estate that is for sale as of 2022 and that the organizations Puelo Patagonia, The Nature Conservancy, Freya Foundation and Patagonia Inc., through the Conserva Puchegüín campaign, hope to acquire over the next year in order to protect it.

“Since May of this year we have been mobilizing funds, in Chile and around the world, to acquire and protect the nature and culture of Puchegüín, hand in hand with its community. With this we seek to continue promoting the sustainable economic development of the community of Cochamó around nature tourism and conservation, improving the well-being of the population and contributing to the development of the entire region,” says Andrés Diez, executive director of the NGO Puelo Patagonia and spokesperson for the Conserve Puchegüín campaign. To learn more about this initiative, please visit Puchegüín Preserve