Pucón, Chile - Freehearted Travel

Top things to see in and around Pucón

Parque Nacional Huerquehue
Volcan Villarrica
Lago Villarrica
The many hot springs that surround this town
Ojos de Caburgua tour
Coñaripe

Parque Nacional Huerquehue

This park is one of my favourite national parks in Chile. It is also so easy to get to with public transport, as a backpacker.

The Los Lagos trail – every look out is beautiful. You can see a condor flying over one the many lakes on this hike.

Get a bus from Pucon, you don’t need a pre-purchased ticket, but arrive early to grab a seat. Same goes when you return to Pucon. There are set times from when the bus leaves from the park, make sure to arrive early to grab a seat.

In winter and spring the park will be covered in snow, so try to go in summer as trails can be closed.

The many lookouts of the Los Lagos trail, a stunning hike with view after view.

Definitely do the Los Lagos & Quinchol trail. It is 7.000 CLP to enter for foreigners ($14), and there are campsites available for an added price.

The views here are completely breath taking, and the araucaria trees are my favourite.

Panoramic shot on the Quinchol trail (bottom). Another shot showing two of the four volcanos you can see from the Quinchol trail (top left). Two lakes that are on the Los Lagos hike (top centre and top right)

Volcan Villarrica and Lago Villarrica

The volcano and lake that can be seen from Pucón and Villarrica. You can climb this volcano on a sunny day for around $120. Or enjoy both the lake and volcano from the city, or from the surrounding national parks: Parque Nacional Villarrica and Parque Nacional Huerquehue.

In winter, you can do dogsledding on the volcano itself through Auroral Austral.

Pucón and Villarrica with views of Volcan Villarrica

Hot springs surrounding the area

There are many different hot springs available around this area.

Termas Geometricas
Termas los Pozones
Eco-termas de Río Blanco
Termas Menetué
Termas de Huife
Termas Trancura
And much more

Ojos de Caburgua Tour

A beautiful, underrated tour of waterfalls, rivers, volcanos, lakes and a stop at a hot spring to finish. I 100% recommend it and it is very budget friendly. If you’re in Pucón take this tour!

Ojos de Caburgua (top left and centre). Bridge on way to Ojos de Caburgua (top right). Mirador de los peces (bottom left and right). Lago Caburgua (bottom centre).

Coñaripe

Finally, Coñaripe and the surrounding small towns is a beautiful stop. Full of tranquility and peace. Come here to relax, slow down and enjoy.

So, these are my main recommendations of Pucón, which is an area of Chile that is full of natural wonders. It is hard to choose between all the options, and there are many national parks and hot springs that weren’t mentioned here.

Either way, you definitely need to add this part of Chile to your Bucket List!