Mountain Bike in Torres del Paine

Ride against the wind, explore some of the most wild trails where only the gauchos ride their horses.  Patagonia.

Explore Patagonia by bike, explore Torres del Paine with Dittmar Adventures, for more info check our website.

Circuit- Day 4 Perros to Paso

       This 6 hour day begins climbing out of Perros campground through forest. Shortly after, navigating the trail becomes a tedious task.  You must negotiate through a labyrinth of paths running through an incredibly muddy section. It’s littered with fallen trees and gnarled protruding roots so watch your step, this is the perfect concoction for a twisted/rolled ankle. Once you’ve made it out (hopefully unscathed), leave the forest and mud behind as you enter a realm of rock and ice.

         Ascending out of the forest landscape shifts from lush to barren, save a few bubbling springs that you come across while making your way to the foot of John Gardner Pass. The pass winds up a trail of talus with a faint switchback or two, but all in all isn’t  as difficult as it’s hyped up to be and takes under an hour to reach the apex. If the Patagonian weather god favors you this day, upon reaching the top you’ll be overwhelmed by the sheer enormity and vastness which lies before you. The Southern Patagonian Ice Field takes up an almost 180 degree panorama, with looming mountains further to the West that lay enveloped in the relentless ice. This is personally my favorite view within the park and the highlight of the circuit, although when it comes down to it everything’s relative. Whatever it may be that you believe in, while you’re up here overlooking the phenomenon of nature you feel ever closer to that one thing.

     
         After picking your jaw up off the rocky floor you start the descent to Campamiento Paso which is longer than the ascent to the pass, and consists of rocky trail mixed with rutted out dirt steps. Doing this during a good rain would be treacherous as most of the crucial hand railing is broken down, and the dirt path would become a “slip n’ slide”. Once the trail “flattens” out you’ll eventually arrive at Campamiento Paso. It’s tucked away in a mountainside forest overlooking Glacier Grey with phenomenal vantage points. The camp is free, and has a restroom and cooking area available as well as a creek running through camp that allows water access. Most of the campsites are level and manageable, although some spots leave you a mere five feet from your neighbor. Overall Paso is a great campsite, and for being free you really can’t beat it.

Circuit- Day 3 Dickson to Los Perros

        This 4.5 hour trek begins leading out from Dickson and quickly climbs a rock strewn path through forest.  The trail then levels out and very gradually climbs, dips, and winds on the mountainside through a cathedral of green silence. The majority of the trail never strays too far from distant roaring of the river beneath you, and almost the entirety of the trek is shrouded within depths of forest. This is the epitome of a pristine environment frozen in time, and you can sense it in the purity of the air you breathe.

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         Keep wandering through the woodland and you’ll eventually come across a large bridge composed of tree trunks stretching across the narrow canyon with boiling river below. From this point you’re about an hour from Los Perros campground. You climb a little bit more up and out of the forest to find a landscape of rocks with Perros Glacier hanging before your visage, forming a lake at its foot. This is a fantastic place to snap some photos and turn around 360 degrees to find yourself surrounded by a rich and dramatic landscape at all angles.

           Perros campground is located in a riverside forest with level campsites and has water, showers, and restrooms available. If you get here early a must is making your way to Puma glacier for a day hike. The trail leads from Perros and starts right beside the river, from there you hike up about an hour and twenty minutes to the glacier. This is a highlight of the back side of the park as you can actually get within striking distance of the glacier. Peering inside its depths and witnessing the power and enormity first hand is an experience unlike any other. The cherry on top is being able to drink some of the purest water on the planet straight from the heart of the glacier, this is something you shouldn't pass up.

Circuit- Day 5 Paso to Grey

       This 3.5 hour day begins trudging your way through thick forest going up, down, up, and down again for quite some time. You then reach one of two large metal ladders that lower you into a ravine, and have you on your way to do some more climbing and descending. The trail begins to seem more like an obstacle course as you come across the second ladder, then after this you reach a fantastic cable bridge that sinks and sways with each step as you peer out at the ravine below.
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        From here you continue on through the forest eventually coming to a wide grassy clearing that signals the Refugio Grey campground. All the spots here are unprotected and located on semi-damp grass even when the sun is out and not the flattest of places either. All the amenities and then some are available here at Refugio Grey. Showers, restrooms, camp-store, along with a bar and comfortable dining area are all at your disposal. If you’d like to get up close and personal with Glacier Grey and the iceberg monoliths, guided kayaking tours are available. The refugio is a great place to stay, but before hiking the last 10 minutes to get there you should brave an icy dip in Lago Grey to lounge on some of the near shore icebergs.

Circuit- Day 2 Seron to Dickson

       This 6 hour trek begins with a brisk jaunt through the valley alongside Rio Paine, and then abruptly climbs up a hillside which requires a steep ascent of around 35 minutes. Upon reaching the top, landscapes open wide and far before you with mountains on the horizon, lakes and rivers beneath you, and the trail winding into the fertile valley below. From here until the river valley floor the path snakes downhill and allows for plenty of fantastic vistas and photos.

      

        On a bright clear day this stretch can be quite humid and the sun relentless, forgetting sunscreen will be a costly mistake. You wander in and around woods, brush corridors, swamplands, and meadows until you reach the steady but subtle rise in land that offers a view of the Dickson Refugio. From here you see Rio Paine in the foreground with mountains and Dickson Glacier on the horizon. This is one of the most picturesque refugio locations in the park, however during summer months you may have to pay the price with hordes of mosquitoes being the norm.

          A mosquito mask wouldn't be a terrible idea here, and the swarms seem to abate down on the lake shore if you’re looking for a refuge outside of your tent. Refugio Dickson has basic accommodations and is an incredibly beautiful site; the main thing here is managing to avoid being eaten alive by mosquitoes.

Circuit- Day 1 Laguna Amarga to Seron

Heading along the road from Laguna Amarga to Las Torres, cross the bridge and continue on until you hit the Lago Dickson sign on the right. This trail is fairly different from the majority of the park as it winds through spacious dry grasslands and skirts alongside Rio Paine, while offering up views of the Torres’ peaks on a clear day. From the trailhead all the way until the campsite of Seron, the path remains pleasantly flat with no notable climbs. Along this trail you’ll encounter meadows, grasslands dotted with burnt sections of trees, and fertile areas of pampas which hang near the banks of the river.  

 It’s not uncommon to encounter less than a handful of people on this trail as the majority of trekkers start hiking to Seron from Las Torres. On a sunny day a generous application of sunscreen is a must as you’ll be completely exposed to powerful UV rays the entirety of the trail. Overall getting to Seron is a very peaceful walk with plenty of wide meadows and valleys that look out upon mountainsides to the East and West. Seron campground, located in a meadow with a bubbling creek to the rear of the grounds, has a scattered grove of trees with flat camping sites. A restroom, shower, and water faucet is available; along with a plentiful supply of mosquitoes once dusk approaches. This beautiful grassland campsite has a nostalgic feel to it, and is vastly different from any camping encountered on the W-Trek. 

Torres del Paine full circuit

What to pack for Torres del Paine, Patagonia

Day 4- Paine Grande to Refugio Grey

This three and a half hour trek to Refugio Grey takes you through a corridor of jagged rocks leading up to a ridge where you dip and rise till you are overlooking Lago Grey. If weather permits you will also get your first glimpse of glacier grey, however if it’s cloudy you will hardly know the glacier is there aside from the floating icebergs scattered across the lake. The trek to Refugio Grey is not difficult and maintains a steady elevation once you’re overlooking the lake. Grey has the same options as the other refugios, either stay indoors or camp outside it’s up to you. The sopapillas at the cafeteria are delicious after a day of trekking, these are highly recommended and surprisingly inexpensive. Stay the night here then decide to either head back and catch the catamaran at Paine Grande, or head to campamiento paso for a day hike or overnight stay. Paso provides a phenomenal vista overlooking glacier grey and is the closest you can get to the glacier, however isn’t considered part of the official W so once you’ve made it to refugio grey you have survived Torres Del Paine’s W Trek. Viewing the source for the surrounding dramatic landscape really brings together the raw nature of the park, and is a perfect example of how all life on earth is interconnected one environment affecting the other.

Torres del Paine, self guided W hike

Torres del Paine W