Radal Siete Tazas National Park () is a national park located in

Curicó Province Curicó Province ( es, Provincia de Curicó) is one of four provinces of the central Chilean region of Maule (VII). Its capital is the city of Curicó. It lies between the provinces of Colchagua and Talca and extends from the Pacific to the Ar ...

, Maule Region,

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 ...

. It lies in a pre-

Andean The Andes, Andes Mountains or Andean Mountains (; ) are the longest continental mountain range in the world, forming a continuous highland along the western edge of South America. The range is long, wide (widest between 18°S – 20°S l ...

area close to

Descabezado Grande Descabezado Grande (also ''Cerro Azul'' or ''Quizapu''WebpagOVDAS, about Descabezado Grande, retrieved on 28 October 2013) is a stratovolcano located in the Maule Region of central Chile. It is capped by a ice-filled caldera and named for its ...

volcano.

History

This protected area was reclassified as a national park in 2008. After the February 27, 2010 earthquake one of the park's main attraction, the Seven Cups, completely dried up. It is believed a rock

fissure A fissure is a long, narrow crack opening along the surface of Earth. The term is derived from the Latin word , which means 'cleft' or 'crack'. Fissures emerge in Earth's crust, on ice sheets and glaciers, and on volcanoes. Ground fissure ...

allowed the water to empty into an

aquifer An aquifer is an underground layer of water-bearing, permeable rock, rock fractures, or unconsolidated materials ( gravel, sand, or silt). Groundwater from aquifers can be extracted using a water well. Aquifers vary greatly in their characteris ...

Geography

The park's most popular feature is the area known as ''Siete Tazas'' (Seven Cups), which consists of seven consecutive natural pools with their respective waterfalls along Claro River. These waterfalls range from 1 to 10.5 metres. There are also two high waterfalls called ''El Velo de Novia'' (The Bridal Veil) and ''La Leona'' (The Lioness), with single vertical drops of 40 and 20 metres respectively. Many kayakers paddle the smaller falls ranging from 1 to 10.5 metres (3–32 feet). Once kayakers enter the steep canyon the only way out is down. Many tourists congregate on platforms surrounding the canyon to watch the kayakers as they navigate the waterfalls. At the end of the run kayakers must make a quick move to shore in order to avoid the 40 meter waterfall. This is the end of the canyon where kayakers then hike out. The park's elevations range from to .

Biology

The park protects tree species mainly of the genus ''

Nothofagus ''Nothofagus'', also known as the southern beeches, is a genus of 43 species of trees and shrubs native to the Southern Hemisphere in southern South America (Chile, Argentina) and Australasia (east and southeast Australia, New Zealand, New Gui ...

'', including the threatened ''

Nothofagus glauca ''Nothofagus glauca'', commonly known as hualo or roble Maulino, is a species of plant in the family Nothofagaceae. It is a deciduous tree endemic to Chile. It grows from 34° to 37° South latitude. ''N. glauca'' was proposed to be renamed ''L ...

'' and '' Nothofagus leonii'', as well as ''

Nothofagus macrocarpa ''Nothofagus macrocarpa'', commonly known as roble de Santiago or Santiago's oak, is a deciduous tree in the Nothofagaceae family that is endemic to the mountains of central Chile. It is sometimes regarded as a subspecies of ''Nothofagus obliqua ...

'', ''

Nothofagus dombeyi ''Nothofagus dombeyi'', Dombey's beech, coigue, coihue or coigüe (from Mapudungun ''koywe'') is a tree species native to southern Chile and the Andean parts of Argentine Patagonia. It is a fast-growing species that can live in a wide range of ...

'', ''

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 ''

Nothofagus alpina ''Nothofagus alpina'', also called rauli or raulí beech (in Mapuche language) is a species of plant in the Nothofagaceae family. A deciduous tree, it grows in Chile and Argentina, it reaches 50 m (160 ft) height and more than 2 meters ...

''. Also it is possible to find vulnerable and rare species, as are '' Austrocedrus chilensis'' and '' Maytenus chubutensis''. The park is home to an endangered subspecies of '' Cyanoliseus patagonus'' known locally as ''Tricahue''.

References

Reserva Nacional Radal Siete Tazas

External links

* National parks of Chile Protected areas of Maule Region {{SouthAm-protected-area-stub