Torres del Paine Off The Beaten Path Tips by Trekki Top 5 Page for this destination

Lichen "garden"

When hiking to Refugio Pingo, we found this little area of wonderful colorful wild lichens - the view was just magic :-)

It was so tiny that we almost overlooked it - so better you look at the ground from time to time to discover some of these little beauties :-)

Hike off the crowds along the Rio Pingo

As PN Torres del Paine is getting quite cowded during december and january, I prefered the less hiked trails.
The trail along Rio Pingo is one of them. It starts in the southwestern part of the park, just close to Lago Grey and the Hosteria there.
The hike is easy, takes about 3 days round trip, but at least sleeping bag is required.
Overnight stays in the (free) 2 refugios. Refugio Pingo and Refugio Zapata.
If you are interested, please see my travellouge about this hike.

dead wood is so photogenic :-)

All around in PN Torres del Paine, the lifecycles continue as everywhere. Floods come and go, heavy snowfall comes and goes, the rain and the wind are here more or less every day.
This all creates a beautiful wild and rough atmosphere, along the paths and off the paths.
For me, all those dead wood stumps and branches which are present everywhere, have always been very nice "photogenic objects".

This one I found on Lago Nordenskjöld's southern shore, easily accessible from Refugio Pudeto, just north of El Salto Grande.

Discover Torres del Paine flora - orchids (2)

Wherever you hike off the beaten path, in more humid areas in the park, you will see wild orchids.

These little ones we found trekking along the Rio Pingo, towards Refugio Zapata. If you are interested, please see my travellouge for details on this hike.

Discover Torres del Paine flora - Notro bush

The Notro bush is related to the south african Protea. Usually, it spreads around a big area in open terrain, starting to bloom around october, but keeps its long red flowers until december, january.

Discover Torres del Paine flora - orchids (1)

Wherever you hike off the beaten path, in more humid areas in the park, you will see wild orchids.