Highlights
- Hone your riding skills on this 5 day taster ride
- Experience some of Torres del Paine’s most photographed views through the ears of your horse.
- Be astounded by views as you ride across the heart of the Park
- Stay in comfortable hotels and authentic estancias throughout
- Observe agile guanacos as they scatter in front of you
- Picnic riverside in the beautiful Serrano River section of the Park
- Bond with your smart, responsive, agile Criollo horse, your loyal companion on the ride
- Canter your heart out on soft grassy pampas beneath towering granite peaks
- Take a boat trip for an up close and personal encounter with a towering valley glacier
Day by Day
- Morning collection from hotel in Puerto Natales. After driving a little out of town you will be meeting your horses and enjoying a safety briefing before riding north west from Puerto Bories to Puerto Prat following trails along the shores of Last Hope Sound and across farmland, a great introductory ride to get used to the style of riding and your horse who will be your companion for much of the riding to come. Along the way we will be stopping for lunch at Estancia Consuelo, founded in the late 19th century by German immigrant Hermann Eberhard (who also discovered the nearby Milodon Cave). Consuelo is one of the region’s oldest ranches and a landmark of Patagonian settler history. Its preserved buildings and sweeping views of the Eberhard Fjord make it a great stopover, offering an authentic connection to local culture and the legacy of Patagonia’s pioneering families. After a full day ride of around 28 kilometres you will be meeting your transfer vehicle to take you the remaining short distance to the outpost village of Cerro Castillo. Night in the comfortable, country house-style Hosteria el Pionero in twin/double rooms with private bathrooms. Breakfast, lunch and dinner included.
- After breakfast we will be hopping in the van for the transfer into Torres del Paine and our destination at the Serrano River. We will make our way to a coral to meet our horses for the exciting and visually stunning pampas ride to Lago Grey. Today’s views will be dominated by the jagged peaks of the Paine massif as we enjoy a fairly long ride along the Rio Grey to the largest glacier in the park, Glacier Grey. On reaching the trailhead we will tether our horses and walk out across the swinging footbridge through the forest to Grey beach. The view that greets us is memorable; the grey pebbly shores of the beach form an almost surreal contrast to the blue of the floating icebergs that have calved off the nearby glacier. Glacier Grey protrudes off the southern ice field and is quite simply a wonder of nature. Measuring 28km in length and covering a total area of 270 square km with its frozen walls of blue ice towering almost 35 metres high, it never ceased to impress.
After some time walking along the beach and enjoying our picnic lunch, we will walk back to our waiting horses for the fun ride back to our comfortable hotel, the Pampa Lodge.
Note: the Glacier itself is 17 kilometers from the the Grey beach and if you would like to get up close to the face of this marvel of ice, w e can arrange a trip out onto the lake in the Grey III boat. This is an optional excursion available at the cost of approximately US$140 per person. If you want to take the excursion, you would return to the hotel by vehicle as there is not time to ride back.
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Today’s ride will take you to the Tyndall Glacier on a pristine empty trail through the wild & inaccessible Bernardo O’Higgins National Park. Starting out you will follow the shores of the Serrano River with amazing mountain views and plenty of opportunities for exciting canters along the riverside or across the pampas. You will ride on soft grassy and sometimes sandy trails, through pretty valleys and forests exploring this western edge of the Park as it borders the Bernardo O’Higgins National Park. This fun fast ride takes advantage of the flat, soft terrain and your confidence in the saddle having now got used to the style of riding.
The magnificent mountains of the Paine Massif are never far away and you will also see the imposing Mt Donoso and the other mountains of the Balmaceda range in the distance. Riding back to the Serrano River for another night at the Pampa Lodge.
- Today we will be heading out on a private guided safari as we take a vehicle transfer across the heart of the Park with stops for observing wildlife and taking short walks to some of the Park’s most iconic lookouts. Our destination is the very comfortable Hotel Las Torres located in the heart of Torres del Paine National Park. The hotel was originally part of the Estancia Cerro Paine, a vast Patagonian cattle ranch acquired by Croatian immigrant Antonio Kusanovic Jercic in 1979. Over the decades, the family transitioned from livestock to tourism, officially opening the hotel in December 1992 with just nine rooms and a small kitchen. It expanded steadily and by 2013 the hotel had grown into a full-scale hospitality operation with 74 rooms, complete with restaurant, bar, spa, stable, and organic gardens. In that year all cattle grazing was ended to focus exclusively on sustainable tourism and conservation, eventually forming the Reserva Las Torres Patagonia, closely aligned with the national park.
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After a wholesome breakfast in the hotel’s excellent restaurant you will take a short transfer to Laguna Azul and beyond to a small gaucho hut located in this area where one of the Park’s most experienced baqueanos, Moncho will be introducing you to your horses and taking you on a ride through some of the best riding country in the area.
After saddling up you will be heading out into the wide open pampas, dramatic canyons, fast flowing rivers and grassy valleys that surround the area. It is unlikely you will see other humans as you access these empty landscapes with just the soaring condors and grazing guanacos for company. You will visit the Las Chinas Falls and explore the Sierra Contreras with dramatic views both to the mountains of La Cumbre and Baguales that form the natural barrier with Argentina and the Paine Massif to the west.
At the end of your ride you will take a transfer to Puerto Natales where the trip will end.
NOTES: This ride is available on request for 2+ riders. It would suit a couple, small group or family wanting to see some of the Park’s most iconic scenery while staying in comfortable lodges. The trip is a private ride so riders can be less experienced than on some of our longer riding trips. One of the days is a rest from riding where you will have a chance to witness the Park’s classic landscapes and abundant wildlife. Accommodation is not included in Puerto Natales and the ride would combine well with a hiking or other family trip in the area. We can recommend and reserve accommodation in Puerto Natales on request.