Chiloe Island Route

Scenic road chapters

Waypoint introductions and full write-ups

1. 1. Chacao

   Chacao is where the mainland ends and Chiloé begins, and the crossing is part of the pleasure. The Chacao Channel is a short, sharp stretch of water between the Chilean mainland and the big island, only a few kilometres wide but famous for strong tides and sudden weather. Ferries run back and forth across it all day from Pargua, carrying trucks, cars and motorcycles, and the trip takes about half an hour. On a clear day, you watch for dolphins and sea lions, and seabirds follow the boat, hoping for scraps.

   Read the complete Chacao write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

   May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.

   Planning note

   Chacao is where the day begins. Next is Ancud.

2. 2. Ancud

   Ancud is the northern door to Chiloé, an island of rain, mist and wooden churches off the coast of southern Chile. You reach it by ferry from the mainland, crossing the Chacao Channel from Pargua, and the first thing you notice on arrival is how soft everything is: low green hills, grey-shingled houses, boats on the water and clouds that seem to rest on the roofs. The town of about twenty-eight thousand people sits on a bay on the north coast and has the practical services of a port, including fuel, supermarkets, banks and restaurants.

   Read the complete Ancud write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

   May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.

   Planning note

   Ancud comes up about 29 km into the recorded legs. Next is Dalcahue.

3. 3. Dalcahue

   Dalcahue is a small port on the east coast of Chiloé, the big island off the coast of southern Chile, and its name means, in the Huilliche language, a place of dalcas, the plank boats that islanders once used. It sits on a channel facing the smaller island of Quinchao, and a short ferry crosses the water every few minutes, which gives the place its restless harbour life. On a grey morning the sea and sky blend in pewter, with gulls, fishing boats and the smell of salt and woodsmoke.

   Read the complete Dalcahue write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

   May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.

   Planning note

   about 99 km into the recorded legs you reach Dalcahue. Next is Castro.

4. 4. Castro

   Castro is the capital of Chiloé and has a character that is unlike anything else on mainland Chile. It is a port town of about thirty thousand people, climbing a hillside above a long inlet, and its most famous image is the row of palafitos, wooden houses built on stilts above the tidal water, painted in faded blues, yellows and reds. At high tide they seem to float; at low tide the mud flats show and the stilts are exposed, and boats lean on the shore at odd angles.

   Read the complete Castro write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

   May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.

   Planning note

   Castro, late in the day. Next is Quellon.

5. 5. Quellon

   Quellón sits at the southern end of Chiloé, a working port town of about twenty-two thousand people, where the road simply stops. This is the end of Route 5, the Chilean section of the Pan-American Highway, which runs more than three thousand kilometres from the northern desert to here, and a sign on the waterfront marks the spot. For anyone who has ridden down the long thin country, the moment of reaching it is oddly emotional, even if the town itself is practical rather than pretty.

   Read the complete Quellon write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

   May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.

   Planning note

   Finish at Quellon. That is the ride.