El Barco Lake (Laguna El Barco or Lago El Barco) is a lake in the Bío Bío Region of Chile, near the

Callaqui Callaqui is a stratovolcano located in the Bío Bío Region of Chile. It is a large ice-capped, basaltic andesite volcano which is elongated in the northeast-southwest direction, due to its construction along an long fissure. Numerous cin ...

stratovolcano A stratovolcano, also known as a composite volcano, is a conical volcano built up by many layers (strata) of hardened lava and tephra. Unlike shield volcanoes, stratovolcanoes are characterized by a steep profile with a summit crater and per ...

. The terrain is volcanic in origin.

Ignimbrite Ignimbrite is a type of volcanic rock, consisting of hardened tuff. Ignimbrites form from the deposits of pyroclastic flows, which are a hot suspension of particles and gases flowing rapidly from a volcano, driven by being denser than the surrou ...

s and

lava Lava is molten or partially molten rock (magma) that has been expelled from the interior of a terrestrial planet (such as Earth) or a moon onto its surface. Lava may be erupted at a volcano or through a fracture in the crust, on land or un ...

s about 2.65 million years old can be seen in region around the lake. The lake can be reached by a road that runs up the east side of the Callaqui volcano and the Ralco National Reserve. It has a campsite with hot showers run by the local

Pehuenche Pehuenche (or ''Pewenche'', people of the "pehuen" or "pewen" in Mapudungun) are an indigenous people of South America. They live in the Andes, primarily in present-day south central Chile and adjacent Argentina. Their name derives from their de ...

community, with craft sales, horse riding and MTB rentals. The site is open in summer only, from December to March. In winter there may be as much as of snow. In 1997

Endesa Endesa, S.A. (, originally an initialism for ''Empresa Nacional de Electricidad, S.A''.) is a Spanish multinational electric utility company, the largest in the country. The firm, a majority-owned subsidiary of the Italian utility company Enel, ...

proposed to increase exploitation of the tourist potential of the lake and the Río Quillaileo. The first step was to obtain additional financing.

References

Citations Sources * * * Lakes of Chile Lakes of Biobío Region {{Biobío-geo-stub