Southern Austral Highway Cycling Tour

Meet the tour staff and other participants at your accommodation in Coyhaique at 3:00 p.m. After introductions, attend a briefing about the cycling journey and complete the bike and equipment checks. This is your final opportunity to purchase any necessary items in a large city before sharing dinner with the group.

Begin your ride on a paved section of the Carretera Austral, crossing the countryside outside Coyhaique and passing El Blanco amid Patagonian steppe and rock formations. After the Route 7 and Balmaceda junction, climb gradually toward Laguna Chiguay for a picnic lunch. Continue through Cerro Castillo National Park to the highest pass on the Carretera Austral, then descend the Devil's Slope past viewpoints over the Ibanez River to Villa Cerro Castillo.

Leave Villa Cerro Castillo and reach the end of the asphalt after 15 km. The route becomes a demanding stretch of loose, corrugated gravel, passing Green Lagoon and the Dead Forest along the Ibanez River, a landscape shaped by the 1991 eruption of Hudson Volcano. Minibus support helps the group approach Murta Valley before you ride beside the turquoise waters of General Carrera Lake to Puerto Tranquilo.

You may begin the day with an optional kayak or motorboat trip to the Marble Chapels. Then cycle beside General Carrera Lake, also known as Chelenko, with distant views of valleys and glaciers descending from the Northern Ice Field. Cross the General Carrera bridge near the formation of Bertrand Lake and the Baker River, then continue past the Puerto Guadal and Chile Chico junction. A series of climbs and descents leads to Puerto Bertrand.

Continue south beside the Baker River through Patagonian steppe, where grasslands replace the trees beneath winding mountains. Stop for a hike at the confluence of the Baker and Nef rivers and see the powerful waters flowing from the Northern Ice Field. Ride onward near Patagonia National Park, where you may spot guanacos and other native wildlife before reaching Cochrane.

Start on pavement before continuing over gravel past Emerald, Juncal, and Chacabuco lakes, with the possibility of seeing Mount San Lorenzo. Ride from the open steppe into native forest and descend Los Nadis Hill into a remote Patagonian valley. Set up camp in the evening and share a traditional Patagonian barbecue of spit-roasted lamb and vegetables prepared by a local pioneer.

Ride through native forests, wetlands, and peatlands as the landscape transitions from Patagonian steppe to evergreen forest. Arrive in Caleta Tortel, a remote village known for walkways built from Guaitecas cypress that connect its homes, civic centre, and public services. Explore the village on foot after completing the day's ride.

Take a final morning walk along Caleta Tortel's wooden walkways before travelling by minibus to the junction of Route 7 and Puerto Alegre. Begin cycling with a long, demanding climb to the pass, followed by a descent to Puerto Yungay. Board the approximately 45-minute ferry to Rio Bravo, then enter one of the most beautiful and isolated sections of the Carretera Austral before camping in this remote area.

Take on the final cycling stage, which features three major climbs and some of the route's most remote scenery. Pass roadside waterfalls, broad valleys, Patagonian steppe, rivers, and lakes on the way to Villa O'Higgins. Continue to Bahia Bahamondes and kilometre 1,247, the southernmost point of the Carretera Austral, where you can celebrate completing the route.

Load the bikes and luggage into the minibus and begin the return journey. Stop first in Puerto Yungay for travellers continuing by ferry to Puerto Natales, then travel north through Cochrane to Bahia Catalina. Scenic stops provide time to appreciate the Patagonian landscape before dinner at your lakeside accommodation on General Carrera Lake.

Continue the return journey by minibus toward Coyhaique. The tour concludes with a drop-off at Balmaceda Airport, and it is recommended that you book a flight departing after 2 pm. Alternatively, you may continue to Coyhaique, where post-tour accommodation is not included.