“Orienteer” your way along the boardwalks of charming, Caleta Tortel

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Photo of“Orienteer” your way along the boardwalks of charming, Caleta Tortel

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Undiscovered Patagonia

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Trail stats

Distance: 78.21 mi
Elevation gain: 4,964 ft
Technical difficulty: Easy
Elevation loss: 5,344 ft
Max elevation: 2,251 ft
TrailRank: 31
Min elevation: 3 ft
Trail type: One Way

Coordinates: 496
Uploaded: July 5, 2014
Recorded: July 2014

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near Cochrane, Aisén (Chile)

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Itinerary description

With its quirky architecture and picturesque boardwalks, Caleta Tortel is sure to be one of the milestones of your journey through Patagonia. Caleta Tortel is a magical village, which almost hangs from the slopes of the mountains rising around it, so leave your vehicle above and head down the stairs.

Waypoints

Caleta Tortel

Houses, shingles, walkways, boats, piers, signs, and even the public squares and playgrounds; all made of wood, in this unique and fascinating little town, suspended in the air in a dreamy landscape of 1,000 hues of green and the milky turquoise of the Tortel Bay. Unique architecture, geographical isolation and cypress of the Guaitecas have forged the identity of this small village located between the Northern and Southern Patagonia Ice Fields. Caleta Tortel was founded in 1955 when settlers arrived looking for new opportunities for livestock ranching and fishing, but instead they found a much more profitable endeavor: the extraction of cypress of the Guaitecas, an extremely water-repellent, long-lasting wood with an exquisite smell, beautiful vein and great durability. In those times, it was sold for fence posts and telegraph poles being implemented in the region of Magallanes. Little by little, people began to settle in this area, forming a small town; which, even today, bases its economy around this tree; perhaps the only coastal port in Patagonia that does not specialize in fishing or the fruits of the sea. Caleta Tortel is enveloped in a heavy wrapping of flora; generously sprinkled with forested areas, comprised of ciprés of the Guaitecas, coigüe, notro, and a mix of short leafed and needle leaf mañío. Add in a LOT of small, and not so small, ferns, mosses, lichens, and forest undergrowth, and you have all the ingredients needed to generate the lush natural environment you will encounter along the boardwalks and trails of Tortel, filling your sight with every hue of green imaginable.

Baker River

Before 2003 there were no roads connecting Caleta Tortel with the rest of Chile; the Baker River was the main transportation corridor for both residents and visitors and the docks spread throughout the Caleta were the hub of the town’s activity. In just a little over a decade, the existence of the Carretera Austral has created a totally different scenario.