Carretera Austral | Informal Campsite

March 8th, 2024 by racklifetales

Open and in good condition. Came here cold, wet and with a stormy night closing in. The Refugio gave much needed shelter, and a place to dry all the wet stuff. Unfortunately, the gusts sucked all warmth from the fire immediately out of the hut, since it’s not really windproof, but it would have been much worse in my tent.

The woods surrounding the Refugio are pretty emptied of dead wood by now. Please venture out further.

February 23rd, 2024 by meaningfulyarn89

Open and in good state. Fire pit in front amd dry toilet at the back.

December 31st, 2023 by resonantselect69

Muy buen lugar para descansar, una cabaña muy cómoda, con harta historia en sus muros. Realmente bien lugar. Cuenta con espacios tipo cama para poder dormir tranquilamente. Tiene una chimenea para que puedas hacer fuego (recuerda dejar leña).
También hay una litera muy cerca de la cabaña.
En esta época no hay curso natural de agua, el agua del lugar está atascada y no se recomienda tomar de ahí. Pero hay agua cerca en todos lados, si sales para el camino y caminas 50 metros encuentras un cause de agua.

December 30th, 2023 by us

Refugio Ciclista. Camped outside as the weather was fine. Inside would look more welcoming on a rainy/windy day. There’s no water access. We fetched some from the waterfall 500m north.

December 21st, 2023 by readybikini51

Super nice place and the fire is a real plus

November 6th, 2023 by luccacbrosa

Best place between o Higgins and the boat to sleep. It’s opened and you can sleep well inside. You can’t see it from the route, but you can read the gate and find the spot.

October 28th, 2023 by jesse.lemmens1995

We could open the gate, just a wire around the gate (no chain, no pad lock). Place is as described, looked a little shabby but that’s the charm about places like this! Not a whole lot of thrash around, let’s keep it that way!

May 2nd, 2023 by xtgfamily

We wanted to stop at this point Ioverlander but the entrance was blocked by a chain and a padlock, perhaps because we were there out of tourist season. There is a small refuge with fireplace and a large square sheltered from the wind.

nous avons voulu nous arrêter à ce point iOverlander mais l’entrée était barré par une chaîne et un cadenas, peut être car nous y étions hors saison touristique. il y a un petit refuge avec cheminée et une grande place abritée du vent.

March 19th, 2023 by ecarvalhojr

Hermoso lugar escondido dela ruta, protegido. Es posible dormir dentro solo con aislante térmico y bolsa de dormier, y hasta armar una carpa pequeña dentro. Yo preferí armar mi carpa fuera y quedar dentro solo para me calentar y cocinar. Hay lugar para hacer fuego dentro.

February 27th, 2023 by eliette.guichard.pub

perfect place when it is rainy and windy ! or just to enjoy a cosy place with a fire. Be careful if you sleep on the bench in the opposite side of the door, the wall is not 100% waterproof !
we went to the little cascads 400m north to get some water.

January 29th, 2022 by jns.mns

This shelter saved us from the wind and rain!
Cosy place with fireplace and benches.
a lot of firewood in the forest south of the terrain, 2min walk!

February 11th, 2020 by nduchaussoir

what a relief to find this place after arriving from O'Higgins in the rain and wind!
we managed to sleep 5 people inside that night, it was perfect.

January 27th, 2020 by carolnijssen

What a lovely little place! Free refugio with a warm fireplace. Please take your trash and dry some wood for the next visitors :)

December 24th, 2019 by emilyconnor

Favourite free place to stay on the Carretera Austral - amazing to have a good shelter from the wind and rain in these parts. Much respect to the Guachos who have provided it for us.

Enjoy the fire, but make sure you top up the dry wood supply - and if it’s wet, try dry off some bigger logs for the next visitor to make sure they can warm up and dry off!

December 10th, 2019 by jeclark1989

By bike this is a great find. After all the climbs from the ferry to O’higgins this place is here waiting to save you from the wind and rain, and the rest of the road is enjoyable spinning! There was not a lot of wood here when we arrived but enough kindling and plenty dead wood in the surrounding woods that will burn eventually. Please restock the wood before you leave! Someone had obviously pulled off fresh living wood. Please don’t do this. It won’t burn and is pointless, there is plenty of dead wood around. All night we heard lovely frog songs from the pond behind the shelter and when the rain broke the views are incredible! You will need a head-torch or candles for light.

April 2nd, 2019 by destinovagabun2

This place saved us from the wind and rain. Big parking space for any type of rig. Plenty of wood inside, make sure you collect some to leave for the next travelers. Our cooking set up is outside and we were able to cook and make a fire inside. Rules are clear in the shelter, leave it better than you found it.

January 31st, 2019 by Instagram.com

Beautiful refugio as described. You have to open a gate on the left right after the lake, but don't be put off! You're not trespassing, the refugio is arranged by some lovely locals. Pura buena onda.

December 9th, 2018 by halulom

It's a pretty nice place. plenty of space for tents on a gravel ground. Sleeping space for about 5 people inside. Maybe more. A clear water source is about 1 km north. if you're coming from there and want to stay here, take water with you. Apparently there is water about 2 km south of the shelter.

March 17th, 2018 by coxf1991

amazing spot. very warm once the fire is going. cabin is small but it is possible to pitch tents next to cabin if too many people. clean drinking water available 1km North

March 6th, 2018 by sara.staudt

Super nice spot for rainy days!
We arrived totally soaked from the rain and in need for a dry spot to rest and have lunch. The last visitors left some fire wood so we could light a fire straight away, dry all our clothes and make some hot soup. We just stayed for lunch but it‘s definitely a perfect spot for the night on rainy days!

Please leave the shelter clean and refill the fire wood if you use it!

January 5th, 2018 by holoholotales.com

Cabin with enough space for a tent or two inside. A fireplace and benches. Perfect for staying overnight on a rainy day. Nobody around. Hidden from the main road.