Bernardo O'Higgins National Park () is the largest of the

protected area Protected areas or conservation areas are locations which receive protection because of their recognized natural, ecological or cultural values. There are several kinds of protected areas, which vary by level of protection depending on the ena ...

s in

Chile Chile, officially the Republic of Chile, is a country in the western part of South America. It is the southernmost country in the world, and the closest to Antarctica, occupying a long and narrow strip of land between the Andes to the east a ...

, covering an area of in both the Aysén and Magallanes and Antártica Chilena regions. Management of this and other national parks in Chile is entrusted to the ''

Corporación Nacional Forestal The National Forest Corporation or CONAF (Corporación Nacional Forestal) is a Chilean private, non-profit organization, through which the Chilean state contributes to the development and sustainable management of the country's forest resources. C ...

'' (CONAF). The park is named after General

Bernardo O'Higgins Bernardo O'Higgins Riquelme (; August 20, 1778 – October 24, 1842) was a Chilean independence leader who freed Chile from Spanish rule in the Chilean War of Independence. He was a wealthy landowner of Basque-Spanish and Irish ancestry. Althou ...

, the first head of state of the Republic of Chile.

Los Glaciares National Park Los Glaciares National Park ( es, Parque Nacional Los Glaciares) is a federal protected area in Santa Cruz Province, Argentina. The park covers an area of , making it the largest national park in the country. Established on 11 May 1937, it host ...

(

Argentina Argentina (), officially the Argentine Republic ( es, link=no, República Argentina), is a country in the southern half of South America. Argentina covers an area of , making it the second-largest country in South America after Brazil, th ...

) and

Torres del Paine National Park Torres del Paine National Park ( es, Parque Nacional Torres del Paine) is a national park encompassing mountains, glaciers, lakes, and rivers in southern Chilean Patagonia. The Cordillera del Paine is the centerpiece of the park. It lies in a tr ...

are its neighbours to the east,

Laguna San Rafael National Park Laguna San Rafael National Park () is a park located on the Pacific coast of southern Chile. The park is named for the San Rafael Lagoon formed by the retreat of the San Rafael Glacier. Created in 1959, it covers an area of and includes the Nort ...

is located to the north, the Alacalufes National Reserve to the southwest and the

Katalalixar National Reserve Katalalixar National Reserve is a natural reserve located in an archipelago between Southern Patagonian Ice Field, and Northern Patagonian Ice Field in Aysén del General Carlos Ibáñez del Campo Region of Chile. The reserve was created in 1983 ...

to the northwest.

History

The earliest occupants of the area were the Alacaluf people. In 1830, the then-Captain

Phillip Parker King Rear Admiral Phillip Parker King, FRS, RN (13 December 1791 – 26 February 1856) was an early explorer of the Australian and Patagonian coasts. Early life and education King was born on Norfolk Island, to Philip Gidley King and Anna Jo ...

on board HMS ''Beagle'' visited the

Eyre Fjord Eyre Fjord is a fjord in Chile Chile, officially the Republic of Chile, is a country in the western part of South America. It is the southernmost country in the world, and the closest to Antarctica, occupying a long and narrow strip of l ...

. In June 2007, it was announced that between March and May 2007 all the water within a glacial lake located within the park had disappeared, leaving behind a 100-foot-deep crater. Only some blocks of ice, previously floating on the lake, remained behind on the crater floor. In July 2007, scientists were able to draw the preliminary conclusion that the disappearance occurred as a result of climate change.NBC News: Climate Change Likely Culprit in Vanishing Lake
/ref>

Geography

The park is located approximately between 48° and 51° 38' South

Latitude In geography, latitude is a coordinate that specifies the north– south position of a point on the surface of the Earth or another celestial body. Latitude is given as an angle that ranges from –90° at the south pole to 90° at the north pol ...

(between the

Baker Channel Baker Channel, also known as Calen Inlet, is a channel of Chile located in the Tortel, Aysén del General Carlos Ibáñez del Campo Region. The Baker River discharges into Martinez Inlet, the northern part of this large estuary. It penetrates t ...

and the northern part of the Fjord of the Mountains. The east-central area of the park is subject to a territorial dispute between Chile and Argentina. The highest summit is the

Lautaro Lautaro (Anglicized as 'Levtaru') ( arn, Lef-Traru " swift hawk") (; 1534? – April 29, 1557) was a young Mapuche toqui known for leading the indigenous resistance against Spanish conquest in Chile and developing the tactics that would conti ...

volcano at . Other summits include the Mount Fitz Roy, the

Cerro Torre Cerro Torre is one of the mountains of the Southern Patagonian Ice Field in South America. It is located in Argentina and Chile, west of Fitz Roy (also known as Cerro Chaltén). The peak is the highest of a four mountain chain: the other peaks a ...

and the

Cerro Riso Patrón Cerro is Spanish for "hill" or "mountain". Toponyms ;Bolivia: * Cerro Rico, the "Rich Mountain" containing silver ore near Potosi, Bolivia ;Brazil: *Cerro Branco, a municipality of Rio Grande do Sul *Cerro Grande, Rio Grande do Sul, a municipa ...

. The elevations are lower in the southern part of the park, but the scenery is still spectacular. The highlight of this zone is

Mount Balmaceda Monte Balmaceda is a heavily glaciated mountain located in the Magallanes Region of Chile. It stands at the head of Última Esperanza Sound, in the south portion of Bernardo O'Higgins National Park and near the mouth of the Serrano River. The ...

at , beautified by the glaciers Balmaceda and Serrano. There are no large rivers on the park coast, but the narrow fjords penetrate deeply into the mountains and bring away the drainage of their ice-capped, storm-swept elevations.

Geology

Glaciers

The park includes a great part of the

Southern Patagonian Ice Field The Southern Patagonian Ice Field ( es, Hielo Continental or '), located at the Southern Patagonic Andes between Chile and Argentina, is the world's second largest contiguous extrapolar ice field. It is the bigger of two remnant parts of the Pat ...

. One of its main attractions is the Glacier Pío XI, from which enormous ice blocks periodically spall. The Pío XI glacier is the largest glacier in the southern hemisphere outside of Antarctica, covering an area of , and has advanced over the past 50 years by more than ; one of its tongues measures approximately . The ice face of the glacier is approximately in height (about 30 floors of a conventional building) and the falling ice generates waves exceeding in height; significant enough to rock larger vessels. Other outlet glaciers are Chico, O'Higgins,

Jorge Montt Jorge Montt Álvarez (; April 26, 1845 – October 8, 1922) was a vice admiral in the Chilean Navy and president of Chile from 1891 to 1896.L.S. Rowe, "Passing of a Great Figure in Chilean History." ''Bulletin Pan American Union'' 55 (1922): ...

Bernardo Bernardo is a given name and less frequently an Italian, Portuguese and Spanish surname. Possibly from the Germanic "Bernhard". Given name People * Bernardo the Japanese (died 1557), early Japanese Christian convert and disciple of Saint Fra ...

, Témpano,

Occidental Occidental may refer to: * Western world (of or pertaining to) Places *Occidental, California, a town in Sonoma County, California, US * Occidental Park (Seattle) Other uses * Interlingue, a constructed language formerly known as Occidental * Oc ...

, Greve,

Penguin Penguins (order (biology), order List of Sphenisciformes by population, Sphenisciformes , family (biology), family Spheniscidae ) are a group of Water bird, aquatic flightless birds. They live almost exclusively in the Southern Hemisphere: on ...

and Amalia.

Biology

The area of the park corresponds to the

Magellanic subpolar forests The Magellanic subpolar forests () are a terrestrial ecoregion of southernmost South America, covering parts of southern Chile and Argentina, and are part of the Neotropical realm. It is a temperate broadleaf and mixed forests ecoregion, and ...

ecoregion. The forests are made up of several trees species, including ''

Nothofagus betuloides ''Nothofagus betuloides'', Magellan's beech or ''guindo'', is a tree native to southern Patagonia. In 1769, Sir Joseph Banks collected a specimen of the tree in Tierra del Fuego during Captain Cook's first voyage. Its occurrence on Hornos Isla ...

'', ''

Nothofagus pumilio ''Nothofagus pumilio'', the lenga beech (from the Mapuche language), is a deciduous tree or shrub in the Nothofagaceae family that is native to the southern Andes range, in the temperate forests of Chile and Argentina to Tierra del Fuego, from 35 ...

'', ''

Nothofagus antarctica ''Nothofagus antarctica'' (''Antarctic beech''; in Spanish ''Ñire'' or ''Ñirre'') is a deciduous tree or shrub native to southern Chile and Argentina from about 36°S to Tierra del Fuego (56° S), where it grows mainly in the diminishing tempe ...

'' and ''

Drimys winteri ''Drimys winteri'', the winter's bark or canelo, is a slender tree in the family Winteraceae, growing up to tall. It is native to the Magellanic and Valdivian temperate rain forests of Chile and Argentina, where it is a dominant tree in the coas ...

''. The park is one of the last refuges for the

Chilean huemul The south Andean deer (''Hippocamelus bisulcus''), also known as the southern guemal, south Andean huemul, southern huemul, or Chilean ''huemul'' or '' güemul'' ( , ), is an endangered species of deer native to the mountains of Argentina and Chi ...

. In this also can be found species such as

Andean condor The Andean condor (''Vultur gryphus'') is a giant South American Cathartid vulture and is the only member of the genus ''Vultur''. Found in the Andes mountains and adjacent Pacific coasts of western South America, the Andean condor is the larg ...

marine otter The marine otter (''Lontra felina'') is a rare and relatively unknown South American mammal of the weasel family ( Mustelidae). The scientific name means "otter cat", and in Spanish, the marine otter is also often referred to as : "marine c ...

and

cormorant Phalacrocoracidae is a family of approximately 40 species of aquatic birds commonly known as cormorants and shags. Several different classifications of the family have been proposed, but in 2021 the IOC adopted a consensus taxonomy of seven ge ...

Tourism

Because of its rugged geography and the remoteness of the area, the tourism in the park has been scarcely developed. It is only accessible by boat or helicopter. The glaciers located at the head of

Última Esperanza Sound Última Esperanza Sound ( es, Seno de Última Esperanza, ‘Last Hope Sound’ or 'Inlet of Last Hope') is an inlet stretching from the mouth of Eberhard Fjord to the outskirts of Monte Balmaceda, within the Magallanes Basin. The navigator Juan ...

and the glacier Pío XI are the most visited areas of the park. The main gateways for visitors to the park are

Puerto Natales Puerto Natales is a city in Chilean Patagonia. It is the capital of both the commune of Natales and the province of Última Esperanza, one of the four provinces that make up the Magallanes and Antartica Chilena Region in the southernmost part ...

Villa O'Higgins __NOTOC__ Villa O'Higgins is a small town in the Aysén Region of southern Chile, located 220 km south of Cochrane and 550 km south of Coyhaique. Founded in 1966 and named after the Chilean independence hero Bernardo O'Higgins, it is the capital ...

Caleta Tortel Caleta Tortel is a coastal village ( es, aldea) in Chile. It is the administrative centre of the commune of Tortel and is located between the mouth of the Baker River the largest river in Chile and a small embayment of the Baker Channel. The surr ...

and

Puerto Edén Puerto, a Spanish word meaning ''seaport'', may refer to: Places * El Puerto de Santa María, Andalusia, Spain *Puerto, a seaport town in Cagayan de Oro City, Philippines * Puerto Colombia, Colombia * Puerto Cumarebo, Venezuela * Puerto Galera, O ...

Sea kayak A sea kayak or touring kayak is a kayak developed for the sport of paddling on open waters of lakes, bays, and the ocean. Sea kayaks are seaworthy small boats with a covered deck and the ability to incorporate a spray deck. They trade off the man ...

ing is a popular activity in the park.

References

External links

WCS in Chile's O'Higgins National Park
{{Authority control National parks of Chile Protected areas of Magallanes Region Protected areas of Aysén Region Protected areas established in 1969 1969 establishments in Chile 1969 in Chilean law Magellanic subpolar forests