Batea Mahuida Volcano, Stratovolcano at Argentina-Chile border, South America

Batea Mahuida Volcano is a stratovolcano at the Argentina-Chile border with a central lagoon surrounded by steep volcanic slopes. The area straddles two countries and offers views of multiple mountain lakes from above.

The sources document no eruptive history for Batea Mahuida; they record it as a border hill whose flat, inverted-batea summit holds a lagoon at 1,948 m. Its name comes from Mapudungun: "batea" for the pan shape and "mawida" for mountain. The summit serves as a lookout over the Chilean volcanoes Sierra Velluda, Callaqui, Copahue, Villarrica, Llaima, Lonquimay, Sierra Nevada and Lanín.

The name combines "batea", a Spanish word for a shallow pan, with "mahuida" (mawida), Mapudungun for mountain, describing the inverted-basin shape of the summit plateau. On the Argentine side, a small ski centre operates in the Puel community, where Mapuche residents run winter sports activities on the snow-covered slopes.

The summit sits at 1,948 m and is reached from Villa Pehuenia on the Argentine side (10 km) or Icalma on the Chilean side (11 km). In winter the snow cover supports cross-country ski touring, and a small ski area operates in the Puel community on the Argentine slope. The summit is a flat, inverted-basin plateau with a lagoon at its centre, so the rim, not the middle, gives the views.

From the summit, visitors can see four different lakes: Moquehue and Aluminé on the Argentine side, plus Galletué and Icalma on the Chilean side. This rare viewpoint reveals the geological variety that volcanic origins created in this border region.