Las Palmas de Cocalán National Park, Nature reserve in Las Cabras, Chile.
Las Palmas de Cocalán National Park is a protected reserve in the Cachapoal Province of central Chile, preserving diverse habitats across its land. The site is managed through cooperation between private owners and the national forest authority.
Las Palmas de Cocalán was created as a national park in 1971 with support from local residents, and in 1989 it was officially declared a national park by Chile's Ministry of National Assets and Ministry of Agriculture. It became Chile's first and only national park on private, productive land. In the 19th century the palms of Hacienda Cocalán were already admired; in 1873 Benjamín Vicuña Mackenna had specimens planted on Cerro Santa Lucía in Santiago.
The name Cocalán comes from the basin where the palms grow, and the Chilean palm has long shaped local life: its sap is boiled down into palm honey, a sweetener sold in the region. Since August 2018 local guides from Pitrucao Outdoor lead the Ruta de la Palma Chilena inside Hacienda Las Palmas de Cocalán, explaining the palm's cultural legacy and the conservation rules of the private estate.
Entry requires advance permission from the private owners, who must be contacted directly. The site has no public facilities, so visitors should prepare for basic conditions.
The Cocalán basin holds some 35,000 Chilean palms, counted in the 1980s and now estimated to be more numerous; the park protects part of this stand. Palms from the Cocalán hacienda were already admired in the 19th century, and Benjamín Vicuña Mackenna had specimens planted on Cerro Santa Lucía in Santiago on 23 October 1873.
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