Vicente Pérez Rosales National Park: A Sanctuary of Volcanoes, Lakes and Rainforest in Chile

Vicente Pérez Rosales National Park, established in 1926, is Chile's oldest national park and one of its most visited. It spans about 2,530 km² (977 sq mi) of the Andes in the Los Lagos Region, from the Petrohué Falls and the snow-capped cone of Osorno Volcano to the long, deep Lake Todos los Santos and the foothills of Tronador. Its rainforests belong to the Valdivian temperate forest ecoregion, and it forms part of a protected area of nearly 15,000 km² (5,800 sq mi), along with Puyehue National Park and two Argentine parks.

Location and Landscape

The park lies in Llanquihue Province, in the Lakes Region of the Chilean Andes. Its western entrance is near the lakeside village of Ensenada, about 82 km (51 mi) northeast of Puerto Montt and 64 km (40 mi) from Puerto Varas along Route 225. CONAF, Chile's national forest corporation, manages the park and keeps stations at Ensenada, Petrohué and Peulla.

The landscape was shaped by ice and fire. During the last glaciation, a great glacier filled the basin of Lake Todos los Santos; it retreated roughly 10,000 years ago, and lava flows from Osorno and Calbuco volcanoes later dammed the lower valley to form the lake. Today Osorno, whose symmetrical cone rises to 2,652 m (8,701 ft), dominates the western skyline, while the jagged peak of Puntiagudo, at 2,493 m (8,179 ft), stands north of the lake. To the east, the Tronador massif, on the Argentine border, reaches 3,491 m (11,453 ft). The two volcanoes are described in more detail in Lake Llanquihue and Osorno Volcano: Treasures of Chile's Lake District.

Lake Todos los Santos

Lake Todos los Santos is the park's centerpiece. It covers 178.5 km² (68.9 sq mi), reaches a maximum depth of 337 m (1,106 ft), lies at 189 m (620 ft) above sea level, and stretches about 32 km (20 mi) from the village of Petrohué in the west to Peulla in the east. The two ports are not linked by road. For centuries the lake formed part of a trail over the Andes, and in the late nineteenth century a regular freight and tourist route from Puerto Montt opened, with hotels and lodges that grew into the present-day boat-and-bus connection to San Carlos de Bariloche in Argentina. The lake's deep green water comes from fine glacial sediment suspended in it, which scatters blue and green light.

Petrohué Falls

Where the Petrohué River leaves the lake at its western end, it plunges over a series of cascades cut into dark volcanic rock thought to come from Osorno. The average flow is about 270 m³/s (9,500 cu ft/s) and rises in the rainy season, when the lake can rise by up to 3 m (10 ft). The water runs clear and green, a result of the lake acting as a natural settling basin, and the black, polished rock around it is shaped by sand and silt carried by lahars from the volcano. The falls are the park's most visited attraction; CONAF's regional staff estimate they draw roughly 80 percent of visitors. Although the site is only about 55 km (34 mi) from Puerto Varas on a paved road, the Petrohué Falls are best seen early, before tour groups arrive.

Flora

The park protects rainforest at several elevations. Between about 150 and 500 m (490 and 1,640 ft) the evergreen forest is dominated by coihue (Nothofagus dombeyi), the tique (Aextoxicon punctatum) and the ulmo or muermo (Eucryphia cordifolia), along with myrtle-family trees such as arrayán (Luma apiculata) and luma colorada (Amomyrtus luma). Between roughly 700 and 1,000 m (2,300 and 3,300 ft) the ulmo gives way to tepa (Laurelia philippiana), the trevo (Dasyphyllum diacanthoides) and the tineo (Weinmannia trichosperma). Stands of the long-lived alerce (Fitzroya cupressoides) occur on steep, moist slopes, and lenga (Nothofagus pumilio) forms the upper forest at about 800 to 1,200 m (2,600 to 3,900 ft). Understory plants include the canelo (Drimys winteri), the flame-red notro (Embothrium coccineum), the avellano (Gevuina avellana) and the giant-leaved pangue (Gunnera tinctoria). A botanical survey recorded 152 vascular plant species. The forests belong to the Valdivian temperate rainforests.

Fauna

The park supports about 30 mammal and 80 bird species. Large mammals include the puma (Puma concolor) and the pudú (Pudu puda), the world's smallest deer, while small cats and carnivores include the kodkod or güiña (Leopardus guigna), the chilla (Lycalopex griseus) and the endangered southern river otter (Lontra provocax). A relict marsupial, the monito del monte (Dromiciops gliroides), lives in the bamboo-rich understory. Typical birds include the chucao tapaculo (Scelorchilus rubecula), the black-throated huet-huet (Pteroptochos tarnii), the green-backed firecrown hummingbird (Sephanoides sephaniodes) and the torrent duck (Merganetta armata), which is sometimes seen at the Petrohué rapids.

Introduced species are the park's main biological problem. Red deer (Cervus elaphus) browse forest regeneration, wild boar (Sus scrofa) disturb the soil, American mink (Neovison vison) prey on ground-nesting birds, and trout and salmon have disrupted native fishes in Lake Todos los Santos. The invasive Spanish broom (Spartium junceum) is also spreading.

Climate

The climate is cool and very wet. Annual precipitation is about 4,000 mm (157 in) at Petrohué, 3,000 to 4,000 mm (118 to 157 in) around the lake, and up to 5,000 mm (197 in) on the western slopes. The wettest months are June to August, and the driest are January to March. At inhabited elevations, the mean annual temperature is about 11 to 12 °C (52 to 54 °F), and summer afternoons average roughly 25 °C (77 °F). Snow covers the ground above about 1,000 m (3,300 ft) for most of the year.

Volcanic Hazards

Osorno is an active volcano, and the park lies close to Calbuco, whose April 2015 eruption forced authorities to close the park, the Petrohué Falls, and access to Lake Todos los Santos. Osorno itself was placed under a yellow technical alert in 2018 after a gradual increase in volcano-tectonic earthquakes. SERNAGEOMIN's report of 6 November 2025 listed it at green, meaning stable behavior. Visitors should check the current alert level with SERNAGEOMIN and CONAF before climbing or hiking near either volcano.

Visiting the Park

The park was Chile's most visited in 2014, with 415,625 visitors, though more recent figures were not available when this article was updated. From Puerto Montt, the route runs 20 km (12 mi) to Puerto Varas and then east on Route 225, which is paved all the way to Ensenada, the Petrohué Falls, and Lake Todos los Santos. In 2026, the Petrohué Falls sector is open daily from 9:00 to 18:00, with last entry at 17:00, and tickets are sold online through pasesparques.cl; foreign adults pay CLP 8,200 and Chilean adults CLP 3,900. Main activities include boat trips, short forest trails, hikes on Osorno's flanks, and the cross-border lake route to Bariloche. Neighboring protected areas include Puyehue National Park in Chile and Lanín National Park and the Nahuel Huapi area (see San Carlos de Bariloche and Nahuel Huapi) across the border in Argentina.

Conclusion

Vicente Pérez Rosales National Park packs an active volcano, a deep glacial lake, a basalt-lined waterfall and a stretch of temperate rainforest into a single landscape within a few hours of Puerto Montt. As Chile's oldest national park, it remains an example of how a protected area can welcome large numbers of visitors while still conserving some of the Valdivian forest's most distinctive trees and animals.