Puerto Toro: the landing point for the Serrano Glacier

Puerto Toro is a landing site on the shore of the Última Esperanza fjord, inside Bernardo O'Higgins National Park — the largest protected area in Chile, a territory of ice, channels and mountains where almost nothing can be reached by road. It is the walk-in gateway to the Serrano Glacier.

A point of contact with a park without roads

Bernardo O'Higgins stretches over the Southern Patagonian Ice Field and its fjords. There are no land accesses: you come in by water. Puerto Toro is one of the few places where that enormous park becomes walkable, even if only for a while. The infrastructure is minimal — a pier or landing ramp, a shelter and the trailhead. Everything else is Magellanic forest, glacial water and the walls of the Balmaceda massif closing off the landscape.

The walk to the Serrano Glacier

From the shore, a short, well-marked trail moves through lenga and coigüe trees twisted by the wind, following the edge of the Serrano River. It is a flat walk, under half an hour each way, suitable for almost anyone with normal mobility. The forest gradually opens up and at the end the Serrano Glacier lagoon appears, with icebergs floating and the ice front resting against the rock.

The interesting part of the route is not only the glacier: it is reading what it left behind. The polished rocks, the moraines and the young vegetation tell you how much the ice has retreated in recent decades. You can see it with the naked eye, without anyone having to explain it.

How to get there

Departure is from Puerto Natales, at the city pier. The sailing takes around two hours along the Última Esperanza fjord, passing in front of seabird colonies, sea lion haul-outs and isolated ranches, until reaching the Balmaceda Glacier, seen from the water hanging on the slope of the mountain of the same name. Only after that does the boat approach Puerto Toro for the landing.

From this same point the river route along the Serrano River toward Torres del Paine also departs, on smaller boats. It is a different way of entering the park, replacing the road journey, and it is coordinated in advance.

How much time to give it

The stop at Puerto Toro lasts a little over an hour: the time it takes to go, look and come back. The full excursion takes half a day from Puerto Natales. It fits well as a transition day — your arrival day in Natales, or the day after coming down from the park, when your legs are asking for something gentler.

Season and what to bring

The sailing runs mainly between October and April, with more limited schedules at the edges of the season. The fjord has its own weather: you can get sun, rain and strong wind in the same morning, and the wind chill on deck is always lower than on land. Windproof and waterproof jacket, layers, a hat, light gloves and shoes with grippy soles — the trail is usually damp. Operations depend on sea and wind conditions, so the departure may change on the same day.