You can resupply where the river nears the road by parking your vehicle at Balsa Palena or La Junta on the Carretera Austral. A private hot springs on river right near Melimoyú is a nice respite from the sometimes nasty weather. To soak, ask permission first and then be prepared to pay a fee.

From Chaitén, drive south 76 km to Villa Santa Lucia. At the crossroads, continue east 84 km to Palena. Put in outside of town at Puente Palena elevation 305 meters. Near the end of your trip, take the right channel around Isla Los Canales, then paddle north in Estero Pitipalena to the take-out. to arrive  at the coastal hamlet of Puerto Raúl, near Balmaceda

Note: In year 2008 a new road was built connecting La Junta with the coast

This 170 km multi-day class I•II float trip starts out small and finishes much larger with the entrance of several major rivers including Figueroa/Rosselot, El Tigre, Rio del Oeste, etc. Flows at takeout can vary from 1000 to 20,000 CFS depending on time of year. The river is runnable at anytime of year but nicer in summer  due to weather.

Topo maps include Palena, El Malito, Cerro Tictoc, La Junta, Río Risopatrón, Puerto Raúl Marín Balmaceda

Beware: Petrohué means “place of flies” in Mapuche, and no one doubts that the hard-biting tabanos and Culihuachos rule here in December and January. But don’t let the flies deter your plans, great whitewater abounds on the upper Petrohué. The action includes big, bouncy, class IV drops, surfing waves, and friendly play holes. Approximately 3 km below the put-in, a volcanic wash draining the southern slopes of Osorno marks the top of an obscure, difficult island drop that should always be scouted and is often portaged. The river turns sharply to the left and pinches down into a narrow slot. A big rock and turbulent hole command the right side forcing a precise move to the left. At higher flows, careful inspection will reveal a far left sneak route.

Continuing downstream, the tumultuous Saltos del Río Petrohué serves as a logical take-out at elevation 120 meters. Although the Saltos has been run at high water from the lip of the last waterfall, it is usually portaged because of the tortured water that bursts through the deadly fluted and fissured basalt chutes directly upstream. Scout the continuous class III-IV action leading to the waterfall prior to embarking on a trip. Once the horde of tourists appears at the overlook, you should move to river right and take out. Obscure trails lead out to the road. Reenter the park via the tourist gate to run the falls or continue down the lower class III run. In the past, the friendly rangers have let us enter for free. Proceed down the main trail to the saltos, or turn right onto the Los Enamorados trail that provides access below the falls.

Lago Todos los Santos sits at the bottom of a deep glacial trough, creating a glaciated fiord-like topography. The stunning, simmering giant, Volcán Osorno (2652 m), towers above the river to the north. Other peaks on the horizon include Volcán Calbuco (2003 m) to the south, the eroded neck of Volcán Puntiagudo (2493 m) to the northeast, and Monte Tronador (3491 m) straddling the continental divide to the southeast.

The Petrohué was slated as another component in ENDESA’s nationwide hydroelectric development scheme. Local opposition thwarted ENDESA’s plans for a dam. The outcry forced ENDESA to relinquish its water rights, thus preserving one of Chile’s finest free-flowing rivers from source to sea.

From the resort town of Puerto Varas, 996 km south of Santiago, drive east around the southern edge of Lago Llanquihue, the fourth largest lake in South America. After reaching Ensenada, continue east 16 km into the park and the outlet to Lago Todos los Santos elevation 190 meters. These two lakes were once connected in early interglacial epochs, but subsequent lava flows from the eruptions of Osorno and Calbuco separated the two. Good campsites site lie a few kilometers downstream from the Saltos at the Los Patos campground.

The 6 km class IV•V- run is boatable year round with flows varying greatly from 1500 CFS upwards. Average gradient is 12 mpk or 60 FPM

Topo map titled Puerto Montt

Refer to the upper Petrohué description for directions to Parque Nacional Vicente Perez Rosales. Starting at the base of the Saltos del Río Petrohué involves running a turbulent class IV rapid immediately upon entry into the river. For an easier alternative, drive down the road a couple of kilometers to the campground at Los Patos elevation 85 meters. Put in on an irrigated boulder pile, bumping and grinding 200 m down to the confluence with the Petrohué.

To find the take-out, drive 13.5 km from the Los Patos campground towards Ralún. Park your vehicle at Puente Huenu-Huenu, a bridge spanning a tiny creek flowing into the Petrohué. Scout this small tributary well; it is easy to miss. You’ll have to hike up this streambed to avoid kilometers of flatwater and a commercial take-out fee downstream. Elevation here is 25 meters above sea level.

This 12 km class III stretch is boatable year round with flows ranging from 1500 CFS upwards. Average gradient is 5 mpk or 26 FPM with no portages.

Topo map titled Puerto Montt

Don’t be fooled by the low average gradient on the upper Cisnes. Its citadel rock walls reverberate with the roar of great whitewater rising from the abyss. Located east of the Carretera Austral, this precipitous canyon forms the southeastern boundary of Parque Nacional Queulat. Although off the beaten, dusty track, the magnificence of this canyon makes the added time and effort to reach it worthwhile.

Rapids of little consequence make up the first half of the trip. Below the confluence with Estero Quemas, an inviting, narrow side canyon from the north, the river begins to flex its muscles. Numerous scouts are required at blind horizon lines created by boulders polished white by millennia of rushing waters. As the gradient steepens, a portage or two may be prudent depending on the water level, although all the drops have been run. High water runs would be sketchy due to the presence of sieves, undercuts, and one unportagable rapid. In case of an accident, bailout possibilities in the gorge are arduous, if not impossible.

From Villa Amengual near Cisnes Medio, 288 km south of Chaitén on the Carretera Austral, drive east approximately 20 km on X-25 towards La Tapera and the Argentine border. Finding the arbitrary put-in and take-out requires your attention to the topography. After ascending a few switchbacks, look down at the end of the canyon. Take out shortly downstream from here (elevation 430 meters) by hiking up to the road. Put in 12 km upstream from this point at a pullout on the left (elevation 310 meters), where the road descends close to river level. Vehicle traffic is sparse in this region, so be prepared to “hoof it” on the shuttle.

Fishing is absolute amazing and you can see the fish in pools below you as you boat.

This 12 km class IV+•V- stretch is best run at early and mid summer flows of  300 to 700 CFS with average gradient of  10 mpk or 50 fpm

Topo map titled Laguna Las Quemas

The optimal window to run this river is very small, indeed. A half-a-meter more water would have made our trip an awesome endeavor. Much more than that and we would have been forced to hike out. I will never “paddle” the upper canyon again, but I would jump at the chance to hike up to or beyond the Río Azul for the second half of this trip, where the gradient eases up. The Azul looks great on the map with its headwaters draining Parque Nacional Palena. At the right flow (~15-17 cms), this 8 km-long El Tigre section is easily runnable in a day. A trail on river right allows you to preview the run from the take-out. Camping is marginal in El Salto canyon, and not much better on the El Tigre, where Cerro Pico Morro (2006 m) peeks over the western horizon.

From Villa Santa Lucia, 77 km south of Chaitén, drive east on the road to Futaleufú. At the crossroads east of Lago Yelcho, follow the signs east 42 km to Palena. Climb the hill behind the Plaza de Armas in Palena, and drive west. After passing Puente Don Daniel, continue another 2.5 km, turn left, and drive upstream to the end of the road. Elevation 225 meters. To reach the put-in, drive east from Palena towards the border. Turn south at the sign to Valle California and continue approximately 11 km, eventually entering Fundo El Quemado. Ask a local where the turnoff is to Pasarela Río El Salto elevation 650 meters.

Best run in early summer or later after a hard rain. If you repeat the whole journey it is 19 km, class V+ in upper canyon and more reasonable IV+ from confluence with azul.

Topo map titled Palena

Excluding some excellent drops in the gorge above Puente Figueroa (which is on Rio Pico), most of the run contains intermittent class II-III boulder garden rapids. If you put in on Lago Verde (elevation 260 meters), a big class V rapid must be negotiated just above the confluence with the main stem. You can preview most of the run from the road parallels the river, except for a short, narrow canyon towards the bottom. Below the take-out, the river flows class II for many kilometers down to Lago Rosselot.

From La Junta, 151 km south of Chaitén, drive east approximately 60 km towards Lago Verde.. Put in either at Lago Verde (260 meters elevation) or in the meadow at the confluence of the Río de Los Nevados and Río Pico (elevation 290 meters). Take out 10 km downstream from Puente Figueroa along the road at elevation 200 meters. The 12 km stretch beginning on the Rio Pico put-in has average drop of 40 FPM and best run in spring and early summer months before the Pico gets too low. This signifies a level at the takeout of 1500 to 2500 CFS.

This class II•IV+ run has wilderness feel but it is somewhat roadside and due to its length makes for good multi-day option. If you choose to go further there are additional takeout options but where the road leaves the river you will be committed to floating into Lago Rooselot and crossing a few km to the exit side of the lake.

Note below Lago Rosselot the river continues down to the Carretera Austral. This 12 km stretch sports some world class fishing and is home to several lodges. It is mostly class 2 with one distinct class 4 drop a few km’s into the run. Takeout on lower stretch is at Puente Rooselot. Put in at a boat launch just below a bridge at exit of lake beside Puente Rooselot # 1.

Topo mpas titled Río Figueroa, Lago Verde

Due to an upstream dam in Argentina the river has year round water. Winter months are cold and the river is high but it is still boat-able. Prime boating season is late November to mid April.

Notable rapids on this stretch include “Asleep at the wheel”, “Terminator”, “Kyber pass” and Himalayas.

Terminator is a monstrous 1/2 km rapid that deserves a good scout. Traditional scout is on river left but easier portage is on the right. An exciting “chicken line” can be found close to shore on river left for the majority of boaters who can not conceive of running down through the massive hole-infested center of Terminator.

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Eva and Alex in the exciting sneak of terminator foto by John Cornwell

The takeout is the swinging Paserela bridge 8 km up from Puente Futaleufu. This is also the put-in for Bridge to bridge section.

The put-in for the Terminator section is 7 km upriver at the confluence with Rio Azul. There are some private land issues near the confluence so best to put in on the Rio Azul and boat 3 km down to the Futa. to reach put in for Azul turn left 1/2 km before the bridge while driving towards town of Futa and proceed up a road paralleled by a fence made of huge vertical Coigue logs. Drive until you reach the swinging bridge over the Azul and find your way to the river..

View of the ash-covered Tres Monjas as seen from the river when Chaiten volcano blew for the second time in Feb 2009

Recent explosions of Chaiten volcano in 2009 have somewhat darkened the waters of both the Azul and the Futa but as each day passes the quantity of ash sediment in the water diminishes.

Nearby rivers include the Azul, Espolon, Tigre, and Michinmahuida

For the true adrenaline crazed boater, The Cochamó river will provide the goods as it plunges the final few hundred meters to the ocean. On December 7, 2008 I hiked up the valley with the DEMSHITZ crew who described the river as more intense than the lower 9 on the Middle Kings.

Dave Fusilli boofing early on the Cochamo

Getting up the river is also an experience. First you need to reach the coastal town of Cochamó. From the north of Chile it is best to exit Ruta 5 Pan American Highway at Puerto Varas. From here it is roughly a 1.5 hour drive through Ensanada and Relún to reach Cochamó.

Beautiful Cochamo valley

Continue south out of town for a few KM until you reach a bridge over the Cochamo River. You can take out here but you can also continue upstream another 5-6 KM to the end of the road. Here you can leave a vehicle in the shade and begin the hike, load the horses, etc.

Dave Fusilli in the granite playground

From the takeout it is 5 grueling hours of boat hiking or you can secure some horses (highly recommended) which also involves a 5 hour trip.

Cochamo Campfire entertainment

On our trip we used locals Gabriel Gonzalez and Lucho Rojas to get our gear up the valley. Gabriel’s house is the fourth one between takeout bridge and town of Cochamó. Gabriel can be reached via cell phone at 90856328 or via his son Gabriel Junior 97883723. We paid just under 14,000 pesos per horse which included Gabriel’s and Lucho time. We put 2 boats on each horse plus a few small bags of boating gear. We also camped on Gabriel’s land after descending from the upper valley.

I would highly suggest camping at least one night in upper Cochamó valley before making the 8 hour kayak descent. The logical put in is at La Junta where you can boat or slide on your ass down a 100 meter granite slide. There is also rustic camping and a refugio operate by a Gringo named Daniel that caters mostly to rock climbers visiting the surrounding Yosemite like domes. you can visit their website and learn more about valley at www.cochamo.com

We ran the river on December 7th after several weeks of dry weather. It seemed like we had a perfect flow of around 500-600 CFS. I have heard of several aborted trips due to low water. These trips were in January and onwards. Based on the this info I can only guess that ideal flows are found in month of December.

The Tabanos (horseflys) can be absolutely viscous so a suggestion is to bring lite pants for the hike to save your legs from a beating.

Once on the river there is several KM’s of flatwater until you literally fall off the horizon line. Once the action starts it does not let up for several KM. There are countless class 5, 5+ rapids with interspersed sieves and occasional logs to keep one on their toes. All portages were done on river left sometimes in the trees above the water line.

In our group a few of the extreme boaters did the run with 3.5 portages and they figure one of those was runnable.

When in area it is good to visit Petrohue on way south and after running Cochamó continue south to hit both Río Negro and Blanco in Hornopiren area.

View of Rio Blanco upstream from takeout bridge

The Blanco is a glacier fed river (not creek) flowing out of Parque Pumalin. The riverbed is littered with granite boulders which makes for a nice class 3-4 run through some pristine surroundings.

To reach the takeout leave town Plaza in Hornopirén and drive south on Carretera Austral for 6.5 KM to Puente Rio Blanco. To reach put-in back track 100 meters to a fenced road. If the gate is open you might be able to drive up but expect to shoulder your boat for the 4 km hike to end of road.

At this point you reach a house and need to find your way to the river. It is tricky but you will figure it out. Expect to lower your boats (perhaps with ropes) through a bamboo jungle.

The put-in is unforgettable. The whole river basically erupts from a fissure in the rock wall. Expect flows of 1000 to 2000 CFS. We had no portages but be wary of logs.

Note: the takeout of the outstanding Rio Negro creek run is only 3.7 KM away. See description on this website. It is good to combine a trip on the Blanco with a descent of nearby Río Negro and the Cochamó as well.

The DEMSHITZ boys were in Pucon and looking for mini road trip. We filled up two vehicles and headed south to find the Negro and also to run the nearby Cochamó.

Cool Dave airing it out on Rio Negro

The easiest way to get to the Negro is from Puerto Montt by taking a mostly paved road 45 KM to La Arena. Here a 30 minute ferry on Naviera Puelche takes you to the other side of the Seno de Reloncavi to the Caleta Puelche. the ferry cost us 9700 pesos per vehicle and the ferry seems to run every half hour since there are always two boats operating. From here it is 48 km on unpaved Carretera Austral to small fishing town of Hornopirén. The headwaters of the Río Negro are a series of spectacular snow covered Volcanoes including Yate (2111 meters) and Hornopiren (1572 m) all of which are flowing out of Parque Pumalin.

Fred Norquist on Rio Negro

From the town plaza go south on Carretera Austral for 5.9 KM. Here the main road road turns to the right but you need to continue straight for another 400 meters to wooden takeout bridge at Chaquehua. On the other side of the bridge is an excellent campground with hot showers and Quinchos (shelters with tables and electricity). We stayed at this campground and were able to take out here just upstream of previously mentioned bridge.

Graham and Dave scouting on Rio Negro

To reach the put in drive upstream 3.3 KM to where the road plateaus out. There is a small wooden sign here that indicates the distance from the Carretera Austral turnoff as 3740 meters.

The river is low volume with a basalt riverbed that provides for many 2-7 meter drops all of which are runnable. After the first 3 drops on river one comes to a particular 20 meter drop we left un-run and to my knowledge it has yet to be run. Above this 20 meter drop is a class 4+ approach rapid that is immediately preceeded by a 6 meter falls. There is a better viewing/portage trail on river right but we scouted and portaged on our first run on river left which also works.

Below the big falls there are dozens more rapids including a long complex canyon we called “the love canal” and a 7 meter falls that requires a bit of a boof to avoid hitting a somewhat shallow landing zone.

Although only 3.3 KM long the first run down the river took 5 hours with lots of scouting and filming. the second run down the river took less than 2 hours as little scouting is required once you know the run.

We all agreed the river is one of the best in Chile. It is like a combination of the Palguin, Desague and LLancahue all rolled into one. We were told by the owners of the campground that the river reaches a certain low volume and never gets any lower. We boated the river on December 8 and 9 after weeks of drought and the level was perfect with around 300-400 CFS. In appears therefore that the river can be run from late spring spring right through end of fall. The rains return in March and per the locals the river rises quickly after rain.

The Negro takeout is only 3.7 KM from takeout of the much larger Río Blanco and is two hours south of Río Cochamó. While in the area all three rivers can be run especially if one is driving south to Futaleufú.
Be sure to bring a fishing rod. We saw some monsterous salmon that looked like sharks making their way up some shallow falls.

Kurt (Ducky) and Pablo (kayak) just after Pablo’s 7th birthday foto by Eva Luna Ramirez

There are two short sections to the river. The upper sections is 5-6 km long and can be reached in several ways. The easiest is to follow the main road out of Futaleufú towards Chaiten. you will cross over Puente Espolon. The campground on river right serves as a great takeout. To reach a put in continue on main road heading towards Chaiten. There is a turn off about 4 km downstream where you will be able to park just beside the Espolon. To get to a higher put in proceed downstream few hundred yards and turn right following signs to Lago Espolon. Put in at base of a unrunnable falls. Option three is to leave town of Futaleufú heading up the east side of the river. Put in at convenient spot.

Crystal clear water near put in foto by Eva Luna Ramirez

The lower 4 km run begins at Puente Espolon and goes into the Futaleufú. This 4 km stretch has some good play waves and better rapids than upper stretch. A takeout point is on river river right at the old bridge. To reach the take out by car from Puente Futaleufú drive towards Chaiten and after less than 2 km take first major left. there should be a sign that says “La Confluencia”. follow this road until a T intersection and here go left and continue until you reach a river access point.

The lower Espolon also serves as a convenient access route to the Inferno Canyon section of the Futaleufú River. Inferno canyon section for more details