Refugio Hueitra | Established Campground

April 23rd, 2024 by sk79.spoon7

place is open, same place as the entrance to national park and hike to Cero Castillo.

has a Refugio, wich can use on the camping area.

November 10th, 2023 by ulf.jungclaussen

Large camping area behind the official parking area for the trails. Toilets are newly built with showers under construction.
Very friendly owner. Space for big rigs and tents. Road access is steep as described before and only possible with 4x4. 5000 peso per person.

March 29th, 2019 by pr.kurai

Could the next one how is lucky enough to manage to stay here please ask the owner about the situation?!
It was easy to find the place. But nobody there. (Tried to) asked the neighbour. He didn't even listen to my question and send me also 2km further. I came back after I couldn't find a place for the night. The neighbour was really angry. When I asked again for camping, he was surprised that I think the house next door is a campground. (now i think, maybe they keep it kinda secret to not get in trouble with the owner of the private road...).
The neighbour was already in his car. So I asked if he can take me back to the villa since there is no place to sleep here. He pointed at the empty seats and sad no. Finally I started the 90 min walk back in the dusk of this rainy day...not nice.

February 10th, 2019 by bobgoodchild

I went down the track to find this place. It has one section that is steep and rocky and would certainly need 4 wheel drive to get up. Also there is a river crossing with 200mm of water depth at a dry time.
I went to the GPS coordinates given. Which were in the middle of a field. I spoke to a farmer who said I could camp there but no facilities.
I am not sure if I was in the place described. There was a house about a 100 m away across a fenced but the gate was shut to this property and I couldn’t see anyone at the house. when I asked the farmer where the Refugio Hueirta was he said it was a camp site 2 km walk off the road.
At no time did I see any signs mentioning camping or accommodation.
I eventually found somewhere else to camp.
If you decide to try and find this place, leave yourself plenty of time and have a suitable vehicle!

January 4th, 2018 by Waz & Iwona's Excellent Adventure

The refugio still isn't finished but we stayed in there for a couple of nights and we paid 20,000 for four (so 2,500 pppn). Camping is possible too. The refugio isn't super fancy yet but it's comfortable and you can have a fire in their little oven/stove. No shower, toilet in an outhouse. Good thing about staying here is that you can do a tell up to Cerro Castillo without paying 10,000 to go through private property (which you have to pay if you do the official trek from near the bridge). The road here isn't too bad, the steep part is pretty steep but it's doable in a vehicle with a strong engine.

February 6th, 2017 by frederikjb

We didn't find the place, but camped for the night at the first property with the double gate at flags (amazing place).. Ismael, a friendly manager came the next day, confirming it wasn't the right place. He was friendly though and when we asked if we could pay for the night he said 3000 for both of us. He showed us the entry to the trail and recommended the two other lagoons up there.
We met the owner of the road on the way out. He was also friendly but not too happy about CONAF. First thing was no compensation and second he didn't like that it was possible to camp up there since alot of visitors make open fire. We can only agree! The last forest fire in there is still visible.
Be carefull about the steep hill when arriving with car!

December 26th, 2016 by brunorijsman

As of 26 December 2016, a very friendly family is in the process of building a small Refugio here at the beginning of the trail to neozelandes camp site. Look for the entrance with flags towards a yellow house at the end of road arroyo el bosque which is the dirt road which starts at the north end of Villa Cerro Castillo, across from the bus stop. Drive about 5km on this dirt road, making a sharp u-turn over the bridge. Towards the end there is a mean hill which might be a challenge for low clearance passenger cars, especially on the way back.

The Refugio is not quite ready yet at the time of writing. They expect to be ready by early January 2017. Plans are as follows:
* camp sites for 3000 per person. Grass field can accommodate rigs.
* simple sleeping places in the loft of the Refugio also for 3000 per person
* possibility to cook or get simple snacks in Refugio
* park car for hike
* toilets and showers with warm water, possibly later