The Millenary Alerces ride & trek tour - Patagonia

One of Chile’s natural secrets, the Cochamo valley, is spread over 250.000 hectares of native Valdivian temperate rainforest, surrounded by mountains, lakes, waterfalls and rivers. The Riverside Lodge is used as a comfortable base for an Andean experience suitable for both horse riders and non-riders. Up in the mountains, a small cozy lodge provides a base for your exploration of the stunning surroundings.

The tour, which you can do in 2, 3 or 4 days, starts at the Riverside Hostel and follows up through the pristine wilderness to the Andean valley of La Junta in north Patagonia often called the "Yosemite of Chile".

Amidst the granite mountain peaks are stands of 3,000 year-old Alerce trees and an amazing variety of wildlife - condors, pumas and songbirds. This horseback riding tour is for non-riders and riders, who are accompanied by multilingual guides. They can choose from among 14 well-trained horses.

The mountains are full of wild flowers and sparkling streams. Horseback riding is quite a bit less work than hiking and particularly appropriate for going long distances over rugged terrain. There is no other way than horseback riding to travel here and probably will never be.

The guides for these trips are Arrieros and baqueanos (cowboys). As there are no roads or steady trails here, they have learned the routes from their fathers and grandfathers before them. It is worth learning Spanish to understand their tales around the campfire!