Lakes and Volcanoes Route

Volcano views, lakeside bends and dense natural attractions in northern Patagonia.

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Why this ride

Volcano views, lakeside bends and dense natural attractions in northern Patagonia. The road: Ruta 5, 225 and lakeside roads. Distance and riding time are estimates from the checkpoints until the road is measured on this page.

Roadbook

1. Puerto Varas start

   Puerto Varas looks across Lake Llanquihue at a volcano that appears to have been drawn with a ruler. Osorno, at about 2,650 metres, is a near-perfect snow-capped cone, and from the lakeshore at sunset, when the cone turns pink and the water goes flat and glassy, it is one of the great views of southern Chile. Beside it, the more jagged Calbuco, which erupted dramatically in April 2015 and sent a column of ash high into the sky, looks darker and more menacing.

   The town was founded in the 1850s as part of a government scheme that brought German settlers to this corner of Chile, and their influence is everywhere. Wooden houses with steep gables, shingles and decorated eaves line the streets, a church with a tall steeple stands over the town, and cafes serve kuchen, the rich fruit-and-cream cakes brought from the old country. The settlers cleared forest and farmed the rolling hills, and the area still has a pastoral feel, with dairy farms, orchards and neat fences.

   For a rider, the Lake District is a delight. The road around Lake Llanquihue, about two hundred kilometres in all, passes pretty lakeside villages such as Frutillar, where a music festival is held in a concert hall on the water, and Puerto Octay. To the east, the road to Ensenada and Petrohué skirts the foot of Osorno and follows the Petrohué River to its rapids and to Lago Todos los Santos, a deep emerald lake ringed by forest and mountains. Roads are generally well maintained, with long curves and pleasant gradients, but patches of gravel and roadworks appear, and rain is frequent. The best season is summer, from December to March, with long days and a good chance of clear views, though showers are possible all year.

   Fuel is easily found in Puerto Varas, which has several stations, and in nearby Puerto Montt, a port city of about a hundred and sixty thousand, seventeen kilometres to the south. Ensenada, to the east, is small and offers limited supplies, so fill up first. Dress in layers, since the weather is changeable, and carry a rain jacket. Try the curanto, a hearty seafood and meat dish traditionally steamed in a pit with hot stones, and the local salmon, farmed in the cold waters of the southern fjords.

2. Lake Llanquihue stop
3. Osorno Volcano stop

   The Osorno volcano rises from the shore of Lake Llanquihue with the neatness of a child's drawing: a perfect cone, 2,652 metres high, white with snow at the top and dark with forest at the base. Its symmetry is often compared with Mount Fuji, and on a clear day, when the cloud lifts and the lake is still, it fills the sky at the southern end of the Chilean Lake District. It is among the most beautiful volcanoes in the Andes and is a landmark you can see from far away.

   The road to its foot runs from Puerto Varas along the lakeshore, past the village of Ensenada, and then up toward a ski area on the volcano's flank. It passes through the Vicente Pérez Rosales National Park, the oldest in Chile, where thick forest of southern beech and giant ferns hangs over a landscape of black lava and volcanic sand. Near the road the Petrohué river rushes through a lava gorge in turquoise rapids, and the falls on it are a popular stop. The green of the water is startling against the dark rock.

   The riding is a pleasure in good weather: the lakeside road is smooth and curved, with views of the water and, often, the neighbouring volcano Calbuco, which erupted in 2015 and covered the area in ash. The last section up the mountain is steeper and more twisting, with a surface that can be rougher, and the weather can change in minutes. Clouds frequently cover the summit, so there is no guarantee of a view, but when it clears the effect is dramatic.

   The best season is summer, from December to March, when the days are long and the roads are dry, though rain is possible in any month. Bring warm clothing, because the wind from the glacier-covered slopes is cold. Early morning gives the best chance of a clear view.

4. Petrohue stop

   Petrohue sits at the western end of Lake Todos los Santos, a deep green lake in the shadow of Osorno volcano, and the small settlement is the end of the road for anyone driving up from Puerto Varas. Osorno, a near-perfect snow-capped cone of about 2,650 metres, dominates the horizon, and on a clear morning it is reflected in the lake's still water. La Ensenada, a hamlet on the shore of Lake Llanquihue, is the last real settlement before the final stretch.

   The ride is a pleasure from start to finish. From Puerto Varas the road runs along the edge of Lake Llanquihue, with long, easy bends, views across the water to the volcano and the sweet smell of cut grass and pine. Past La Ensenada the road climbs into forest, passes lava fields and winds along the Petrohue River to the lake. The surface is good, the corners are gentle, and the main hazard is slow traffic of tour buses and cars at weekends. Early morning is best, and summer and early autumn bring the most reliable weather, though rain can arrive from the Pacific in any month.

   The area has a layered past. The valley was settled by German immigrants in the nineteenth century, who cleared forest for farms around Lake Llanquihue, and the architecture of nearby towns still has a distinctly German flavour. The park around Petrohue, Vicente Perez Rosales, is the oldest national park in Chile, established in 1926. Todos los Santos was an old route across the Andes, used by Jesuit missionaries and later by travellers crossing to Argentina, and a boat and bus link across the lake still carries passengers to the border and on to Bariloche.

   The nature is the draw. The Petrohue Falls, a short walk from the road, crash through channels of black volcanic rock into a turquoise pool, the rock itself left by ancient lava flows from Osorno. The forest is thick with southern beech, ferns and bamboo, and the volcanic soils are dark and rich. Condors circle overhead, and the cone of Osorno is usually wreathed in cloud before sunrise.

   Fuel is available in Puerto Varas and along the lake shore, but not at Petrohue, so fill up before the climb. Bring a jacket, since the lake air is cool, and allow time for the falls.

5. Frutillar stop

   Frutillar looks as if a piece of Bavaria had been dropped on the shore of a Chilean lake, and in a way it was. German settlers arrived in southern Chile in the mid nineteenth century, invited by the government to colonise the forested south, and they built wooden houses with steep roofs and neat gardens on the western shore of Lago Llanquihue. Their descendants still run bakeries that sell kuchen, the cakes made with berries and cream, and the town keeps a quiet, tidy air.

   The lake is enormous, the second largest in Chile, with a surface that stretches to the horizon and a backdrop of volcanoes. Across the water, the cone of Osorno rises in a nearly perfect shape, capped with snow, while Calbuco, rougher and more menacing, stands to the right. On a clear day the view is superb, and the lakeside promenade is the best place to take it in. The theatre on the shore, built in modern times, hosts classical music events and has become a major cultural venue in the region, a surprising presence in a small town.

   The ride along the lake is a pleasure. The road follows the shoreline from Puerto Varas through farmland and small settlements, with views opening and closing as the road dips and rises. It is generally smooth, with gentle bends, and traffic can be heavy on summer weekends. Cyclists are common, and so are tractors and trucks hauling milk and timber. The weather is changeable, with wind off the lake and showers that pass in minutes, so a light rain jacket is useful.

   Frutillar has a few shops and cafes but no big supermarkets; Puerto Varas, about twenty kilometres away, has more choice if you need to stock up. The German heritage shows in the German museum, with a reconstructed settler's house, mill and water-powered machines in a park above the town, and gives a clear picture of how the colonists lived.

   Try the kuchen, particularly in the afternoon, when it is served with strong coffee. Sit outside if the weather allows, and watch Osorno change colour as the light shifts.

6. Back to Puerto Varas finish

Where this sits

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