Puyehue National Park (Parque Nacional Puyehue) Landscape Scenes and Plants

December 2004

The Puyehue region of the Lake District is dominated by volcanism, with young cone-shaped snow-capped volcanos contributing to the geology and geomorphology of the Andes Mountains near the border with Argentina.   The Rio Gol Gol flows generally west, with several beautiful waterfalls, filling Lago Puyehue east of Osorno.   The vegetation consists of temperate rainforest, dominated by Southern Beech (Nothofagus dombeyi and Nothofagus nitida).   There are few roads into the park, one two-laned highway (Route/Ruta 215) providing access to Argentina a several kilometers to the east.
The Lake District was not significantly colonized by the Spaniards because of the fierce defense of the Lake District by the native Araucarans. Volcanic eruptions and disease had lowered or kept the populatation size in the region relatively low.   The most recent volcanic eruption in the Lake District occurred on 24 May 1960 on Cordón del Caulle, which is part of the Volcán Puyehue stratovolcano.   Cordón del Caulle, which is located on the southwest flank of Puyehue, has erupted seven times since 1893.
To protect this part of Chile for colonization by Argentinians and other forces, in the mid-1800s the Chilean government actively promoted settlements by largely European immigrants, mostly Germans, to populate the area after the volcanos had settled down.   This area was and is an important dairy industry for Chile, with tourism ever increasing.   It is interesting that relatively few Chileans visit the Lake District on their vacations, preferring instead to flock to the beaches west of Santiago.

All photographs copyrighted by David L. Magney 2004.

Photographs of Landscape Scenes of the Puyehue National Park