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 or cultural values. Protected areas are those areas in which human presence or the exploitation of natural resources (e.g. firewood ...

s in

Chile Chile, officially the Republic of Chile, is a country in western South America. It is the southernmost country in the world and the closest to Antarctica, stretching along a narrow strip of land between the Andes, Andes Mountains and the Paci ...

, 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 State-owned private non-profit organization, through which the Chilean state contributes to the development and sustainable management of the country's forest ...

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

Bernardo O'Higgins Bernardo O'Higgins Riquelme (; 20 August 1778 – 24 October 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 people, Basque-Spanish people, Spani ...

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

Los Glaciares National Park Los Glaciares National Park () 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 hosts a representative sample of Mage ...

(

Argentina Argentina, officially the Argentine Republic, is a country in the southern half of South America. It covers an area of , making it the List of South American countries by area, second-largest country in South America after Brazil, the fourt ...

) and

Torres del Paine National Park Torres del Paine National Park () is a national park encompassing mountains, glaciers, lakes, and rivers in southern Chilean Patagonia. The Cordillera del Paine is the park's centerpiece. It lies in a transition area between the Magellanic subpo ...

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 Nor ...

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 Phillip Parker King (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 Josepha King ''née'' Coo ...

on board HMS ''Beagle'' visited the Eyre Fjord. 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> In 2014 the natural sites Chaltén Mountain Range and Pío XI Glacier were created as subdivitions of the natural park.

Geography

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

Latitude In geography, latitude is a geographic coordinate system, geographic 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 t ...

(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 Fjord of the Mountains, also known as "Channel of the Mountains" (Spanish Canal de las Montañas), is located to the west of Puerto Natales, Chile and inside the boundaries of the Alacalufes National Reserve. It stretches 66 km from north to ...

. 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') ( " 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 continue to be empl ...

volcano at . Other summits include the

Mount Fitz Roy Monte Fitz Roy (also known as Cerro Chaltén, Cerro Fitz Roy, or simply Mount Fitz Roy) is a mountain in Patagonia, on the border between Argentina and Chile.Circo de los Altares, the

Cerro Torre Cerro Torre is one of the mountains of the Southern Patagonian Ice Field in South America. It is located on the border dividing Argentina and Chile, west of Fitz Roy (also known as Cerro Chaltén). At , the peak is the highest of a four mountai ...

and the Cerro Riso Patrón. 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 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 (), 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 Patagonian Ice Sheet, which c ...

. 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): 4 ...

, Bernardo, Témpano,

Occidental Occidental may refer to: * Occident (of or pertaining to) * Western world (of or pertaining to) Places *Occidental, California, a town in Sonoma County, California, US * Occidental Park, Seattle, Washington, US Other uses * Interlingue, a const ...

, Greve,

Penguin Penguins are a group of aquatic flightless birds from the family Spheniscidae () of the order Sphenisciformes (). They live almost exclusively in the Southern Hemisphere. Only one species, the Galápagos penguin, is equatorial, with a sm ...

and Amalia.

Internal natural sites

On February 27, 2014, Chile's National Forestry Corporation created the ''

Chaltén Mountain Range Natural Site The Chaltén Mountain Range Natural Site () is a natural site part of the Bernardo O'Higgins National Park in the Magallanes and Chilean Antarctica Region, Chile. It is located between the boundary demarcated by the 1994 arbitration award and se ...

'' by Resolution No. 74, which covers the Chilean side of

Mount Fitz Roy Monte Fitz Roy (also known as Cerro Chaltén, Cerro Fitz Roy, or simply Mount Fitz Roy) is a mountain in Patagonia, on the border between Argentina and Chile.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, Joseph Banks, Sir Joseph Banks collected a botanical specimen, specimen of the tree in Tierra del Fuego during James Cook, Captain Cook's ...

'', ''

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'', also known as Winter's bark, foye and canelo, is a slender species of tree in the family Winteraceae, growing up to tall. It is native to the Magellanic and Valdivian temperate forests of Chile and Argentina, where it is a ...

''. The park is one of the last refuges for the Chilean huemul. In this also can be found species such as

Andean condor The Andean condor (''Vultur gryphus'') is a South American New World vulture and is the only member of the genus ''Vultur''. It is found in the Andes mountains and adjacent Pacific coasts of western South America. With a maximum wingspan of and ...

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 "feline otter", 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 International Ornithologists' Union (IOU) ado ...

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 (, ‘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 Ladrillero named it so in 155 ...

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 of ...

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 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, Philippines *Puerto Colombia, Colombia *Puerto Cumarebo, Venezuela *Puerto Galera, Oriental Mi ...

Sea kayak A sea kayak or touring kayak is a kayak used for the sport of Watercraft paddling, paddling on open waters of lakes, bays, and oceans. Sea kayaks are seaworthy small boats with a covered deck and the ability to incorporate a spray deck. They t ...

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