Baños Morales is the last village of any size in the Cajón del Maipo, the deep, glacier-carved valley that runs east from Santiago into the high Andes, and at about 1,800 meters it feels like the end of the road. The paved road, the G-25, follows the Maipo River upstream from San José de Maipo through a canyon of red and ochre rock, with sage-green scrub, poplar groves and sudden views of snowy peaks. Beyond the village, a dirt road continues toward the El Yeso reservoir and the foot of the San José volcano, which tops 5,800 meters.
The village is small, with a handful of cabins, a modest restaurant or two and hot springs, the Termas de Baños Morales, where mineral water emerges from the mountain. A short walk leads to the El Morado Natural Monument, where a turquoise lagoon sits beneath a hanging glacier, and in summer the mountain meadows fill with wildflowers. Nearby, the old mountain hut at Lo Valdés, built in the 1930s from local stone, has long served mountaineers, and the rocks around it hold marine fossils from the Jurassic.
For riders, the Cajón del Maipo is a favorite escape from the city. The road climbs steadily, with curves around rock buttresses and over bridges, and the scenery changes from vineyards and orchards to bare, jagged peaks. The paved surface is generally good, but rockfalls, washouts and cattle on the road are possible, and the dirt road beyond the village can be rough, with deep gravel and stream crossings. Weekends bring a crush of day-trippers from Santiago, so start early and avoid Sunday evenings, when the road back is slow.
There are no reliable services at the top, so fill the tank in San José de Maipo or Santiago, and carry water and snacks. In summer, from December to March, the weather is warm and dry, with strong sun at altitude and cool nights; in winter, snow can close the road beyond San Gabriel, often from June to September. Condors circle over the peaks, and the air is thin and sharp. The villages along the way sell empanadas, and a hot one on the roadside is the right reward.