What's on in Torres del Paine (Patagonia), Chile through the year

Peak crowds — Southern summer peak, Summer holidays in Chile

• Rule

  Every night must be booked ahead

  1 Jan – 31 DecBook earlyClosures

  You cannot walk the W or the O and find a bed. Campsites and refuges are reserved in advance across three separate operators plus the park service, rangers check the bookings at the gate, and the good dates go the day they open. Source ↗

• Rule

  No fires anywhere in the park

  1 Jan – 31 DecClosures

  Open fires are banned outright after the fires of 2005 and 2011, and stoves may only be used in the marked cooking shelters at each camp. Rangers enforce it and a careless stove has closed sectors before. Source ↗

Still on: Flamingos on the lagoons (1 Oct – 31 Mar (usually)), O Circuit opens (1 Nov – 31 Mar), Patagonian wind season (1 Nov – 28 Feb), Guanaco birthing (15 Nov – 10 Jan (usually)), Southern summer peak (20 Dec – 28 Feb)

Peak crowds — Southern summer peak, Summer holidays in Chile

Nothing new starts in February.

Still on: Every night must be booked ahead (1 Jan – 31 Dec), No fires anywhere in the park (1 Jan – 31 Dec), Flamingos on the lagoons (1 Oct – 31 Mar (usually)), O Circuit opens (1 Nov – 31 Mar), Patagonian wind season (1 Nov – 28 Feb), Southern summer peak (20 Dec – 28 Feb)

Busy — Summer holidays in Chile, school holidays in 2 of the markets that fill it

• Nature

  Lenga turning

  20 Mar – 10 May · usuallyAutumn colour

  The southern beech goes red and orange across the lower valleys from late March, the wind drops off, and the park empties. Shorter days and colder nights are the trade, and the back of the circuit is already shut.

Still on: Every night must be booked ahead (1 Jan – 31 Dec), No fires anywhere in the park (1 Jan – 31 Dec), Flamingos on the lagoons (1 Oct – 31 Mar (usually)), O Circuit opens (1 Nov – 31 Mar)

Shoulder season — an ordinary month

• Closure

  Back circuit and refuges shut

  1 Apr – 31 Oct

  The park stays open but the far side of the massif does not: the John Gardner pass and most refuges close for winter, and some day routes require a guide. It becomes a park you drive and day-walk rather than trek. Source ↗

• Nature

  Puma tracking season

  15 Apr – 30 Sep · usuallyWildlife season

  The cold months are when trackers find them: fewer visitors, snow that holds a print, and long low light at both ends of the day. Late April to May and September are the compromise, with the wildlife without the deep cold.

Still on: Every night must be booked ahead (1 Jan – 31 Dec), No fires anywhere in the park (1 Jan – 31 Dec), Lenga turning (20 Mar – 10 May (usually))

Shoulder season — an ordinary month

Nothing new starts in May.

Still on: Every night must be booked ahead (1 Jan – 31 Dec), No fires anywhere in the park (1 Jan – 31 Dec), Lenga turning (20 Mar – 10 May (usually)), Back circuit and refuges shut (1 Apr – 31 Oct), Puma tracking season (15 Apr – 30 Sep (usually))

Busy — Winter holidays in Chile

Nothing new starts in June.

Still on: Every night must be booked ahead (1 Jan – 31 Dec), No fires anywhere in the park (1 Jan – 31 Dec), Back circuit and refuges shut (1 Apr – 31 Oct), Puma tracking season (15 Apr – 30 Sep (usually))

Busy — Winter holidays in Chile, school holidays in 3 of the markets that fill it

Nothing new starts in July.

Still on: Every night must be booked ahead (1 Jan – 31 Dec), No fires anywhere in the park (1 Jan – 31 Dec), Back circuit and refuges shut (1 Apr – 31 Oct), Puma tracking season (15 Apr – 30 Sep (usually))

Quiet — one of its worst months for weather

Nothing new starts in August.

Still on: Every night must be booked ahead (1 Jan – 31 Dec), No fires anywhere in the park (1 Jan – 31 Dec), Back circuit and refuges shut (1 Apr – 31 Oct), Puma tracking season (15 Apr – 30 Sep (usually))

Busy — Fiestas Patrias recess in Chile

Nothing new starts in September.

Still on: Every night must be booked ahead (1 Jan – 31 Dec), No fires anywhere in the park (1 Jan – 31 Dec), Back circuit and refuges shut (1 Apr – 31 Oct), Puma tracking season (15 Apr – 30 Sep (usually))

Shoulder season — an ordinary month

• Nature

  Flamingos on the lagoons

  1 Oct – 31 Mar · usuallyBirdlife season

  Chilean flamingos work Laguna Amarga and the shallow lakes by the eastern gate through the southern summer, with condors on the thermals above the same road.

Still on: Every night must be booked ahead (1 Jan – 31 Dec), No fires anywhere in the park (1 Jan – 31 Dec), Back circuit and refuges shut (1 Apr – 31 Oct)

Shoulder season — an ordinary month

• Opening

  O Circuit opens

  1 Nov – 31 MarTrail seasonBook early

  The park service opens the back half of the massif around the start of November and shuts it again at the end of March, and it is walked counterclockwise only. The exact opening date depends on snow on the pass. Source ↗

• Hazard

  Patagonian wind season

  1 Nov – 28 Feb

  The same months that give you the long days give you the wind, and gusts over a hundred kilometres an hour on the exposed passes are routine rather than remarkable. It knocks people over on the Grey and Nordenskjold shores. Source ↗

• Nature

  Guanaco birthing

  15 Nov – 10 Jan · usuallyWildlife season

  Chulengos drop in the open country on the eastern side from late November, which is also why the pumas are working that ground in daylight. The herds are visible from the road, no hike needed.

Still on: Every night must be booked ahead (1 Jan – 31 Dec), No fires anywhere in the park (1 Jan – 31 Dec), Flamingos on the lagoons (1 Oct – 31 Mar (usually))

Peak crowds — Southern summer peak, Summer holidays in Chile

• Season

  Southern summer peak

  20 Dec – 28 FebSchool holidaysCrowdedBook early

  Chileans and Argentines take their holidays now and the trails carry their heaviest traffic of the year. Puerto Natales runs out of beds, and the base of the towers at sunrise has a queue on the last scramble.

Still on: Every night must be booked ahead (1 Jan – 31 Dec), No fires anywhere in the park (1 Jan – 31 Dec), Flamingos on the lagoons (1 Oct – 31 Mar (usually)), O Circuit opens (1 Nov – 31 Mar), Patagonian wind season (1 Nov – 28 Feb), Guanaco birthing (15 Nov – 10 Jan (usually))