Nahuelbuta National Park () is one of the few parks in

La Araucanía Region LA most frequently refers to Los Angeles Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Ange ...

Chile Chile, officially the Republic of Chile, is a country in western South America. It is the southernmost country in the world and the closest to Antarctica, stretching along a narrow strip of land between the Andes, Andes Mountains and the Paci ...

's Coastal Mountain Range. It sits atop the highest part of the

Cordillera de Nahuelbuta The Nahuelbuta Range or Cordillera de Nahuelbuta () is a mountain range in Bio-Bio and Araucania Region, southern Chile. It is located along the Pacific coast and forms part of the larger Chilean Coast Range. The name of the range derives from t ...

. Created in 1939, it consists of 6,832 hectares situated just 162 km northeast of Temuco. Nahuelbuta (Mapuche for "big tiger") is a sanctuary for monkey puzzle trees, with specimens dating back 2,000 years.

Flora

In addition to monkey puzzle trees, the park is also home to '' coigüe'', '' ñirre'', '' roble'', '' lenga'', orchids, carnivorous plants.

Fauna

The park provides habitat for the

mountain lion The cougar (''Puma concolor'') (, ''Help:Pronunciation respelling key, KOO-gər''), also called puma, mountain lion, catamount and panther is a large small cat native to the Americas. It inhabits North America, North, Central America, Cent ...

, the pudú, a small Chilean deer, and Darwin's fox. Among the birds are the

Magellanic woodpecker The Magellanic woodpecker (''Campephilus magellanicus'') is a species of large woodpecker found in southern Chile and southwestern Argentina; it is resident within its range. This species is the southernmost example of the genus ''Campephilus'', ...

, the Andean tapaculo and the chucao tapaculo.

Destinations

The park features 30 roads and 15 trails that can be explored by car or foot. The National Forest Corporation (Chile) information center and camping area are both found in Pehuenco, where the most popular route begins, ending at Cerro ''Piedra del Águila'' (1,379 meters). Other peaks include Cerro Anay and Alto Nahuelbuta, part of the

. The administration of the park is located in Pehuenco, which is about 42 km from

Angol Angol is a commune and capital city of the Malleco Province in the Araucanía Region of southern Chile. It is located at the foot of the Cordillera de Nahuelbuta and next to the Vergara River, that permitted communications by small boats to the ...

. There are 10 camping sites here, with picnic tables, fire areas, rustic toilets and water. It is open to the public all year round.

References

*
Parque Nacional Nahuelbuta
Protected areas of Araucanía Region Protected areas established in 1939 National parks of Chile Hiking trails in Chile 1939 establishments in Chile Valdivian temperate forests {{SouthAm-protected-area-stub