Description of the attraction
Lake Chapo (55 sq. Km) is located in the province of Llanquihue, Los Lagos. This beautifully landscaped holiday destination is located 43 km northwest of Puerto Montt, in the Andes Mountains, southern Chile.
At an altitude of 240 m, at the foot of the Calbuco volcano (2015 m), the lake stretches for 17 km in length and 5 km in width. It has a rugged coastline, surrounded by rich vegetation: tall evergreen coigües oak, hazel and larch. There are also cypress trees and many species of ferns.
This is a good place to go fishing, as its deep and warm waters are full of rainbow trout. There are beaches and secluded coves on the shore. Access to Lake Chapo is possible only by a dirt road, so there are few tourists on its shore. The coast is ideal for long walks and cycling trips.
On its southern coast, the Alerse Andino National Park begins, on the north - the Llanquihue National Park.
Thousands of years ago, next to the lake, there was a forest of unique trees - cypress-like Fitzroy. In Spanish its name is "alerce", in the language of the Mapuche Indians it is "lahuán" or "lahuén". It is sometimes called the Patagonian cypress. This is a very large tree - more than 50 m in height and with a trunk diameter of more than 5 m. Some specimens live for more than 3600 years. During the Ice Age, Lake Chapo increased so much that the water flooded the entire forest. At present, very few of these trees have survived. Now the waters of Lake Chapo are being used for a hydroelectric power plant, which causes changes in the level of the lake. In recent years, the level of the lake has dropped so much that the dead forest has become visible again, or rather, all that remains of those ancient trees - they now stand on the coast like silent ghosts. And once it was a mighty, impenetrable rainforest.
