Best Hikes in Chile: Patagonia Trails in 2026

Much of Chile’s best hiking draws travellers south to Patagonia’s Torres del Paine, where our Torres del Paine trekking tours handle the logistics of the classic W and O treks.

Best Hikes in Chile by Type

Almost all of Chile’s marquee hiking sits in one place, so start with our Torres del Paine National Park hikes, the crown jewel of Chilean Patagonia. Here are the best, grouped by type:

The Iconic Towers Day Hike

The Mirador Las Torres day hike climbs the Ascencio Valley to the foot of the three granite Towers, the most famous sight in Chilean Patagonia, and is the route to choose if you only have one day in the park.

The O Circuit and W Multi-Day Treks

For the full backcountry experience, the world-renowned O Circuit loops the Paine Massif over about a week. Standout stages include the O Circuit trek to Grey Glacier over the John Gardner Pass, the O Circuit trek to Lake Dickson, and the O Circuit from Lake Pehoé to Cuernos, which takes in the Valle del Francés and the shore of Lake Nordenskjöld, part of the shorter W trek.

Shorter Patagonia Hikes

If you want the scenery without a full circuit, the moderate Cuernos Camp to Torres Central hike traces the Lake Nordenskjöld shoreline, and the Paine Grande to Camp Grey hike follows Grey Lake toward Grey Glacier.

What’s New in Chile in 2026

Some orientation before you go: nearly all of Chile’s headline hiking sits in Torres del Paine National Park, in Chilean Patagonia, where the granite Towers, the W trek and the longer O Circuit draw hikers from around the world. The park is managed by CONAF, and the main multi-day treks require advance campsite and entry reservations, so it pays to book well ahead in peak season. The hiking window is the austral summer, roughly November to March, when days are long and conditions are most settled, though Patagonia is famously windy year-round. Far to the north, the Atacama Desert offers a completely different, high-altitude landscape for a future trip.

Hiking Near Chile

Chile shares the wild expanse of Patagonia with Argentina, just across the eastern border. The closest match to Torres del Paine is the Los Glaciares National Park hikes around Mount Fitz Roy and the trekking hub of El Chaltén, and many hikers pair the two parks on one Patagonia trip. For the wider picture, browse all of our hikes in Argentina, or explore more hiking destinations worldwide.

Chilean Hiking Tours

If you would rather leave the logistics to a local partner, our guided Chile hiking tours cover the classic Torres del Paine treks along with the Atacama and the Lake District.