Chile Guide
The Lake District
Parque Nacional Villarrica
The centrepiece of the PARQUE NACIONAL VILLARRICA (daily: May– Sept 8am–6pm; Oct– April 8am–9pm; CH$2000) is, of course, the Volcán Villarrica, just 15km south of Pucón, in all its smoking, snow-capped glory. The vast majority of visitors do no more than trek up, have a look at the crater, then wildly body-slide down. But the park is much more than its most celebrated feature: it stretches 40km to the Argentine border (74km by road), contains two other volcanoes, and is one of the few national parks in the Lake District in which you can camp wild and hike for long distances.
The park divides into three sections: Rucapillán, nearest to Pucón and containing Volcán Villarrica; Quetrupillán, next along, entered 9km beyond the turning-point to the Termas de Palguín on the dirt track that leads from the international road to Coñaripe; and Puesco, near the border with Argentina. This region was inhabited long before the arrival of the Spanish, and the names of its peaks reflect this: Volcán Villarrica's original Mapuche name, Rucapillán, means "house of the devil", because of its frequent eruptions, while Quetrupillán, the dormant volcano next-door, means "mute devil". Another peak towards the border with Argentina is called Quinquili, or "devil's fang".