Photo: Ratolibre1, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons.
📍 Santiago Moderate
Official trail page ↗6 km
Distance
5 h
Time
Moderate
Difficulty
The San Francisco Glacier trail in El Morado Natural Monument (CONAF), in the Cajón del Maipo. According to CONAF it's 6 km long; the full return trip takes about 5 hours, at moderate difficulty.
Important: you may no longer reach the glacier or its base, because the area is unstable due to rockfall. You can only hike as far as the lagoon.
Local hazards: rockfall, avalanches, heavy snow, rain or debris flows (May to September). There are only public toilets. Camping (except for permitted mountaineers), pets, bikes, any kind of fire, drones and leaving the trail are prohibited. Hours and tickets: on CONAF's ticket website (Pases Parques).
El Morado is 93 km from Santiago (about 2.5 hours) on Route G-25, paved as far as Baños Morales. In high season, Metrobús 72 leaves from the Bellavista de La Florida interchange (Metro Line 5) from 7:30 am. Baños Morales has places to eat and basic supplies.
📍 Monumento Natural El Morado, Baños Morales, San José de Maipo
From May to September there's a risk of avalanches, heavy snow and debris flows: check conditions with CONAF before you go.
You may see condors, white-sided hillstars and, at the lagoon, crested ducks. Don't feed or disturb the wildlife.
User experiences, not official information. Always check the official status before you go.
No comments yet. Be the first.