Hornopirén National Park, National park in Hualaihué, Los Lagos Region, Chile

Hornopirén National Park covers 66,195.78 hectares in the Andes of the Los Lagos Region, in the communes of Cochamó and Hualaihué. Glacier-carved mountains and active volcanoes dominate, including Yates at 2,187 m and Hornopirén at 1,572 m, with 30 km2 of glaciers. About 97.41 km2 of alerce forest, roughly 35 percent of the vegetation cover, grows here.

The park was established in 1988 and joined Chile's Route of the Parks network in 2018. Its creation protected ancient alerce forests from logging activities that threatened the region.

The park office sits on the central square of Hornopirén, the town that shares the park's name, and every trip into the forest starts there. The name is Mapudungun for 'snow oven', a reference to the volcano above the settlement. The park forms part of the Bosques Templados Lluviosos de los Andes Australes Biosphere Reserve.

Access requires roughly four hours from Puerto Montt using the Carretera Austral, with ferry crossings and gravel road sections being standard. Plan for changing weather and limited facilities, and consider traveling with local guides familiar with the terrain.

Inexplorado Lake, 1.5 km², is one of a chain of paternoster lakes in the Blanco River basin. Rock flour suspended in the water gives these lakes their blue and green tones and the river its milky look. The park's other main lakes are Pinto Concha (4.75 km²) and Cabrera (1.55 km²).