Queulat is one of the great set pieces of the Carretera Austral, a national park where a glacier hangs from a high ridge and spills a waterfall from its edge, and where the road climbs and twists through deep forest on the way to Puyuhuapi and the south. The park lies on the Pacific side of the Andes, in the rainy zone, and the nearest settlement of any size is Puerto Cisnes on the coast, with Puyuhuapi a little north on the fjord. Fuel is available in Puyuhuapi and along the main road, but not in the park.
The ride through the area is demanding and wonderful. The road climbs a steep, zig-zagging section with gravel, loose rock and narrow bends, and in places it is cut into the side of the valley with the forest rising above and falling away below. Rain is the rule, and when it comes the surface becomes slick and muddy, with waterfalls cutting across the road. Late spring to early autumn gives the safest conditions, and early morning offers the quietest road. The air is damp and cool, smelling of moss and rotting leaves, and the cloud often hangs low over the ridges.
The Carretera Austral itself is a marvel of stubborn engineering. It was built in the late twentieth century to link isolated parts of Chilean Patagonia, and the work here, through steep, wet, forested terrain, was among the most difficult. Before the road, the only link was by sea. Puyuhuapi was founded in the 1930s by German settlers who came to this fjord and set up a carpet factory, which still produces hand-knotted carpets and is one of the few places along the road with a real touch of heritage.
The park protects a large area of temperate rainforest, a world of southern beech, giant ferns, bamboo and moss-covered trunks, home to the pudu, the world's smallest deer, and the huemul, an endangered deer that appears on Chile's coat of arms. At the heart of the park, the Ventisquero Colgante, or hanging glacier, tumbles from a high ice field, feeding a milky lake, and a short trail leads to a viewpoint. The water is a startling blue-green, and the roar of the falls fills the valley.
Fill up in Puyuhuapi, carry spare clothes and tools, and give yourself time to stop. The sights here deserve patience.