Why this ride
A 330 km round trip from Dalcahue - roughly 13 h 27 in the saddle. The stops in between: Church of Aldachildo, Churgh of Caguach and back through Church of Aldachildo. The line favours views over speed.
CURVESCOUT / MOTORCYCLE RIDE
Church of Dalcahue and Churgh of Caguach
Plan this ride
- Recorded distance
- 330 km
- Riding-time estimate
- 13 h 27
- Journey
- Recorded itinerary
Distance and timing basis
Ordered leg totals agree within rounding. Stop distances are approximate sums of rounded legs. Stops, delays, approach and any separate return travel add time. Basis: producer-declared routed record.
Reading history stays on this device. My road watch requires a separate selection; opening it does not subscribe this ride.
Distance and riding time are measured on the routed road. Check local closures and conditions before you ride.
Scenic road chapters
Chiloe Island Route
Expect company on a summer weekend. Early is better than fast. For about 63 km this is Chiloe Island Route, a road with a name of its own and a reason for it.
Chapter facts
- Length
- 63 km
- Named road
- Chiloe Island Route
Waypoint introductions and full write-ups
1. Church of Dalcahue
Chiloé is a damp, green island off the coast of southern Chile, and its wooden churches are its soul. The Church of Dalcahue stands on the waterfront of a small town on the eastern side of the island, facing the inner sea and the islands of the archipelago, with a long arcaded porch along its front and a tall tower rising above. Built entirely of wood, with shingles cut from native trees, it is one of sixteen churches inscribed in 2000 as the Churches of Chiloé.
Read the complete Church of Dalcahue write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Church of Dalcahue is where the day begins. Next is Church of Aldachildo.
2. Church of Aldachildo
Aldachildo is another of the small wooden churches on Lemuy, and it asks you to think about how the Chilote churches were actually used. They were not built for tourists, or even mainly for Sundays. When Jesuit missionaries began to organise the islands in the seventeenth century, they did not have enough priests to be everywhere. So they trained local laymen to look after chapels, lead prayers and baptise, and the missionaries themselves sailed round the circuit once a year, on a kind of pilgrimage that the communities still remember with an annual festival. After the Jesuits were expelled in the eighteenth century, those lay guardians kept the system alive.
Read the complete Church of Aldachildo write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Church of Aldachildo comes up about 63 km into the recorded legs. Next is Churgh of Caguach.
3. Churgh of Caguach
Chiloé is a green, rainy island off the coast of southern Chile, and its wooden churches are among the most remarkable buildings in South America. Jesuit missionaries began building them in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, and after the Jesuits were expelled, local carpenters, used to building boats, carried on the work with larch, cypress and native timber, producing churches with shingled towers, porches and curved wooden ceilings like upturned hulls. UNESCO listed a group of sixteen of them in 2000, and the church on Caguach island is a famous one, linked to the pilgrimage of Jesús Nazareno that draws devotees each year at the end of August.
Read the complete Churgh of Caguach write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
about 165 km into the recorded legs you reach Churgh of Caguach. Next is back through Church of Aldachildo.
4. back through Church of Aldachildo
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Church of Aldachildo write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
back through Church of Aldachildo, late in the day. Next is Church of Dalcahue.
5. Church of Dalcahue
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Church of Dalcahue write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Back at Church of Dalcahue. That is the ride.
Leg by leg
Church of Dalcahue to Church of Aldachildo
Church of Dalcahue → Church of Aldachildo is 63 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Church of Aldachildo to Churgh of Caguach
Church of Aldachildo → Churgh of Caguach is 102 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Churgh of Caguach to back through Church of Aldachildo
Churgh of Caguach → back through Church of Aldachildo is 101 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Church of Aldachildo to Church of Dalcahue
back through Church of Aldachildo → Church of Dalcahue is 64 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.