Llanos de Challe National Park is located on the

Pacific The Pacific Ocean is the largest and deepest of Earth's five oceanic divisions. It extends from the Arctic Ocean in the north to the Southern Ocean, or, depending on the definition, to Antarctica in the south, and is bounded by the cont ...

coast of the Atacama Region,

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 ...

. The nearly-rainless park's mountains are moistened by the

Camanchaca Camanchacas are marine stratocumulus cloud banks that form on the Chilean coast, by the Earth's driest desert, the Atacama Desert, and move inland. In Peru, a similar fog is called garúa, and in Angola cacimbo. On the side of the mountains w ...

, creating a fog and mist-fed ecosystem called

lomas ''Lomas'' (Spanish for "hills"), also called fog oases and mist oases, are areas of fog-watered vegetation in the coastal desert of Peru and northern Chile. About 100 lomas near the Pacific Ocean are identified between 5°S and 30°S latitude, a ...

(Spanish for "hills"). The park is one of the southernmost locations of the lomas which are scattered along the coastal desert from northern Chile to northern Peru. The highest elevation in the park is ''Cerro Negro'' at 950 m. This fragile coastal desert ecosystem is habitat for rare and beautiful plants species, including the threatened ''

Leontochir ovallei ''Bomarea'' is one of the two major genus, genera in the plant family Alstroemeriaceae. Most occur in the Andes,Guarin, F. A. (2005)Three new species of ''Bomarea'' (Alstroemeriaceae) from the Andean region of Colombia.''Novon'' 15(2) 253-58. but ...

'', known locally as ''Garra de León''. In addition to, cactus are abundant in the park. LLanosdechalleporfelipecancino

The park is one of the best places for contemplating the natural phenomenon known as ''desierto florido'' ( desert bloom), which occurs occasionally as a consequence of rains brought to the park by

El Niño-Southern Oscillation EL, El or el may refer to: Arts and entertainment Fictional entities * El, a character from the manga series ''Shugo Chara!'' by Peach-Pit * Eleven (''Stranger Things'') (El), a fictional character in the TV series ''Stranger Things'' * El, fami ...

. The park has the largest population of

guanaco The guanaco ( ; ''Lama guanicoe'') is a camelid native to South America, closely related to the llama. Guanacos are one of two wild South American camelids; the other species is the vicuña, which lives at higher elevations. Etymology The gua ...

s in the Atacama Region. The park's seashore and surrounding area feature unspoiled white-sand beaches and a coastal wetland, which shelters

common moorhen The common moorhen (''Gallinula chloropus''), also known as the waterhen, is a bird species in the Rail (bird), rail family (Rallidae). It is distributed across many parts of the Old World, across Africa, Europe, and Asia. It lives around well-ve ...

red-gartered coot The red-gartered coot (''Fulica armillata'') is a species of bird in subfamily Rallinae of family Rallidae, the rails, gallinules, and coots. It is found in Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Paraguay, and Uruguay.HBW and BirdLife International (2021) H ...

black-necked swan The black-necked swan (''Cygnus melancoryphus'') is a species of waterfowl in the tribe Cygnini of the subfamily Anserinae.HBW and BirdLife International (2021) Handbook of the Birds of the World and BirdLife International digital checklist of ...

s and

flamingo Flamingos or flamingoes () are a type of wading bird in the family Phoenicopteridae, which is the only extant family in the order Phoenicopteriformes. There are four flamingo species distributed throughout the Americas (including the Caribbe ...

s. A small

illegal mining Illegal mining is mining activity that is undertaken without state permission. Illegal mining is the extraction of precious metals/rocks without following the proper procedures to participate in legal mining activity. These procedures include pe ...

operation in the park was detected and dismantled in 2021. The mining operation included an encampampment where twelve persons lived on the fringes of the park in Quebrada Minillas, a site of historic mining.

References

Parque Nacional Llanos de Challe
Protected areas of Atacama Region National parks of Chile Coasts of Atacama Region Protected areas established in 1994 {{SouthAm-protected-area-stub