CURVESCOUTThursday Ride #6 · 17 December 2026
Chile · Andes and Cajón del Maipo
A loop from San José de Maipo · Chile
- 174 km
- 3 h riding
- 5 stops
- loop
This Thursday: Chile · Andes and Cajón del Maipo. 174 km as a loop from San José de Maipo in Chile, about 3 h in the saddle. In December the southern hemisphere is in its riding season - long days and warm roads.
Keep this if you want an Andean valley ride from Santiago with a high reservoir at the end. Route G-25 follows the Maipo River up through San José de Maipo; from Las Vizcachas it is about 47 km of good tarmac to the Carabineros post at San Gabriel, where you can ask about the road ahead. Beyond, about 18 km of gravel climbs to the El Yeso reservoir at around 2,500 m. Pass on the gravel if your bike does not suit it, or in winter when snow can close it. Keep it, and check conditions before you go.
- Mara, CurveScout scout
The map loads with the stops and the ride's road.
The ride, stop by stop
1San José de Maipo
San José de Maipo is the gateway to the Cajón del Maipo, the deep river canyon that runs from the edge of Santiago into the high Andes. Only about an hour from the capital's sprawl, the town sits at roughly 970 metres, where the valley narrows and the air turns cooler and drier. Its centre is a quiet cluster of adobe and whitewashed houses with tiled roofs, a handsome church and a plaza shaded by old trees, and weekend visitors from the city fill the bakeries and restaurants. The Maipo River, brown with snowmelt, rushes below.
The valley has a long history of mining, and silver and copper were worked in the mountains above the town from the colonial period. The road that follows the canyon, Route G-25, climbs past villages such as San Alfonso and El Melocotón, where orchards and weekend cabins line the river, and onward to Baños Morales and the Monumento Natural El Morado, a protected glacier valley. Higher still, a road of gravel and sharp bends leads to the Embalse El Yeso, a turquoise reservoir built in the 1960s that supplies much of Santiago's drinking water, ringed by bare peaks.
2Embalse El Yesokm 38
Embalse El Yeso is a reservoir in the high Andes, an hour or two above the last village of the Cajón del Maipo, and its colour alone is enough to make riders brake. The water is a shade of turquoise that seems artificial, held in a bowl of bare brown mountains with snow patches on the heights and the cone of Volcán San José standing guard at nearly six thousand metres. The dam was built in the 1960s to supply drinking water to Santiago, and the lake is still a vital source for the capital, which is why access is controlled and swimming is not allowed.
The approach is half the pleasure. From San José de Maipo, the road follows the river upstream through a narrowing canyon, past little settlements, orchards and hot-spring resorts, with steep walls of red and ochre rock rising on both sides. After the paved section ends, the last stretch to the reservoir is a gravel track that climbs through switchbacks to around 2,500 metres. Expect washboard, loose stones and dust, and be careful when passing vehicles. It is a route better suited to an adventure bike than a road racer.
3Baños Moraleskm 63
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.
4Pirquekm 142
Pirque lies on the southern edge of Santiago, where the sprawl of the city thins out into vineyards and the Andes begin to fill the eastern sky. It is a small town with a large reputation for wine, and one of the biggest wine houses in Chile has its headquarters and original estate here. The Maipo valley, in which it sits, is Chile's classic region for Cabernet Sauvignon, and the vineyards run in neat lines toward the foothills, with the snow-capped peaks of the Andes behind them on a clear day. The setting is a lovely contrast to the busy city.
The road from Pirque leads toward the Cajón del Maipo, a deep canyon cut by the Maipo river into the mountains, and it is the natural return route for riders coming down from the Andes. Here the road passes through a landscape of orchards, vineyards and small farms, with poplars along the edges of the fields and the river valley opening toward the plain. Santiago's air can be thick with smog in winter, and a clear day after rain gives a sharp, bright view of the mountains. Evening light on the Andes, when the peaks turn pink, is one of the great sights of central Chile.
5San José de Maipokm 174
San José de Maipo is the gateway to the Cajón del Maipo, the deep river canyon that runs from the edge of Santiago into the high Andes. Only about an hour from the capital's sprawl, the town sits at roughly 970 metres, where the valley narrows and the air turns cooler and drier. Its centre is a quiet cluster of adobe and whitewashed houses with tiled roofs, a handsome church and a plaza shaded by old trees, and weekend visitors from the city fill the bakeries and restaurants. The Maipo River, brown with snowmelt, rushes below.
The valley has a long history of mining, and silver and copper were worked in the mountains above the town from the colonial period. The road that follows the canyon, Route G-25, climbs past villages such as San Alfonso and El Melocotón, where orchards and weekend cabins line the river, and onward to Baños Morales and the Monumento Natural El Morado, a protected glacier valley. Higher still, a road of gravel and sharp bends leads to the Embalse El Yeso, a turquoise reservoir built in the 1960s that supplies much of Santiago's drinking water, ringed by bare peaks.
Before you go
174 km loop, about 3 h of riding. Check the weather and any road closures before you leave; mountain and coast roads change with the season.