Rafa: “These are trees that are massive. They’ve been here for thousands of years. In fact, here we have a saying that when the first Europeans got to the coast of Chile, these trees already had more than 1,000 years.“
I freeze mid-step, raindrops bouncing off my hood as I follow Rafa’s pointing finger. Through the mist, rising nearly a hundred meters into the sky, stands an ancient Alerce tree – its massive trunk gnarled and weathered by thousands of years of Patagonian storms.
I place my hand against its rain-slicked bark, feeling the rough texture beneath my fingertips. There’s something profoundly humbling about touching something so ancient. When this seedling first pushed through the soil, the Roman Empire hadn’t yet been founded. Water drips from the canopy high above, filtering through a complex ecosystem of bromeliads, ferns, and mosses that cling to the Alerce’s massive branches.
Rafa: “Being in this forest, you can have kind of a spiritual experience. Also, like feeling that you are entering a temple in a way. This is nature in its most monumental beauty, you know?”
As I stand in the presence of this ancient being, I think about the remarkable twist of fate that saved this forest from chainsaws and bulldozers. How one man’s vision – controversial as it was – transformed this corner of Chile into what many consider the most pristine temperate rainforest left on Earth. And how this place now stands as a living laboratory for one of the most ambitious ecological restoration projects in history.
This is Pumalín Douglas Tompkins National Park, spanning nearly one million acres (402,392 hectares) and storing an estimated 229.3 million metric tonnes of carbon. This park represents not just wilderness preservation, but a revolutionary approach to conservation.
The Journey to Pumalín
Welcome back to Rewildology. I’m Brooke Mitchell, and today we’re continuing our journey through Chile’s remarkable Route of Parks of Patagonia.
After exploring the windswept plains and puma territories of Torres del Paine, venturing to the marine-influenced landscapes of Cape Froward where two oceans meet, and discovering the crucial wetland ecosystems near Puerto Varas, we’ve arrived at what many consider the ecological crown jewel of Chile – Pumalín Douglas Tompkins National Park.
Getting here was an adventure in itself. From Puerto Montt, we drove to a tiny airstrip where a modest building – not much more than a seating area, a desk, and a single bathroom – served as the bush flight company’s terminal. I smiled with excitement. I love bush planes, as they mean one thing – you’re traveling somewhere truly remote. The last time I’d flown in one was between the northern and southern regions of Brazil’s Pantanal wetlands on the search for jaguars.
Before boarding, Rafa insisted we all grab window seats. He’d flown this route countless times during his decades running BirdsChile, but his enthusiasm for the journey hadn’t diminished one bit. Even with today’s cloudy forecast, he assured us the aerial view of the coastline with its fjords and glimpses of volcanoes would be spectacular.
He was right. Though the cloud cover obscured many of the mountain peaks, for the next half hour, I was absolutely glued to my window, camera clicking constantly as we skimmed above deep blue fjords that cut into the coastline like fingers and caught occasional glimpses of volcanic silhouettes through breaks in the clouds.
The Gateway to Pumalín – Chaitén
When we touched down at a small airstrip, our driver was waiting to take us into the town of Chaitén, the gateway to Pumalín. As we drove, I got my first real glimpse of where we’d be spending the next 24 hours.
Let me try to paint this picture for you. Imagine a landscape where everything is supersized – massive, jagged mountains thrust dramatically skyward, their peaks periodically disappearing into heavy, dark rain clouds. In the background looms the perfect cone of Chaitén Volcano. Every shade of green you can imagine blankets the lower slopes – from the deep emerald of ancient forests to the bright lime of new spring growth. Rivers, swollen with rainfall, carve silvery paths through valleys so steep and lush they seem almost prehistoric.
The contrast with our previous stops on this journey couldn’t be more striking. Gone are the arid ecosystems of southern Patagonia. This is a temperate rainforest – a rare ecosystem that once covered much of southern Chile but has been reduced to fragments by centuries of logging and development. What makes Pumalín extraordinary is that it contains the single largest remaining stretch of pristine Valdivian temperate rainforest on Earth, where coastal forests receive approximately 6,000 mm (236 inches) of rainfall annually – creating one of the wettest temperate forests on the planet.
The 2008 Chaitén Volcanic Eruption
Our journey into Pumalín began in Chaitén, a small town with an extraordinary story of its own. In 2008, the nearby volcano – dormant for 9,000 years – suddenly erupted, burying much of the town under ash and mud.
Rafa: “This area was affected by a big eruption that caused a lot of damage to the local community of Chaitén. They had to leave their homes for a few years because of the washouts that the eruption caused. And there were casualties, loss of life. When we have eruptions in the Andes, the high temperatures cause tons of water to come down the hills and create what we call a washout or lahars. That’s the technical name. And that amount of water carries with it debris — trunks, rocks, and destroys all it finds in its way. That’s what happened here.”
This balance – living alongside natural forces rather than trying to control them – is a recurring theme in Pumalín. And nobody embodied this philosophy more than the park’s founder, Douglas Tompkins.
If you’ve ever worn a North Face jacket or Esprit clothing, you’ve encountered Tompkins’ first legacy – the retail empire he built before walking away from it all at the height of his success. But here in Patagonia, people know him for something entirely different – as the American millionaire who bought up vast tracts of Chilean land and, in an act that stunned the world, gave it all back to create national parks.
The Establishment of Pumalín Douglas Tompkins National Park
In 1991, Tompkins began acquiring private land for conservation purposes through his nonprofit foundation. Over the years, he and his wife Kris assembled what would become the world’s largest private nature reserve managed as a public-access park. When Tompkins first began purchasing land in Chile in the early 1990s, his intentions were met with suspicion and controversy. Many locals and government officials questioned why a foreigner would acquire so much Chilean territory – especially since the holdings stretched from Argentina to the Pacific Ocean, effectively cutting Chile in half, which some officials even described as a security threat. Rumors swirled about his true motivations, ranging from water rights speculation to creating a separate enclave.
Time would prove his conservation intentions were genuine. Pumalín received official nature sanctuary status in 2005 and was designated a national park in 2018, prompted by Tompkins Conservation’s donation of almost 725,000 acres for the new, roughly one-million-acre park, named in honor of its founder. What’s remarkable is that approximately 98 percent of the park’s land was purchased from absentee landowners – people who held the land as an investment but weren’t actively living on or working it.
The park we’re standing in represents an extraordinary achievement:
Rafa: “This national park is special because it’s one of the best preserved temperate rainforests that we have in Chile. It has lots of areas of primary forest, pretty much untouched. I was just getting in mind examples of the timber industry in the south of Santiago that basically destroyed all the native forests, [and replaced] them with pine and eucalyptus. Here, we still have a pretty healthy environment.”
Pumalín’s Special Geography
From this vantage point, we can see what makes Pumalín’s geography so special. To our west lies the Pacific Ocean, to our east the towering Andes. Between them stretches a narrow strip of land that captures moisture from the sea and creates perfect conditions for these ancient forests. The park encompasses this remarkable convergence of temperate rainforest, fjords, expansive Pacific coastline, and Andean mountains. In the distance, the Michinmahuida and Chaitén Volcanoes crown the landscape, with thousands of waterfalls cascading down from glaciers and steep granite walls. This unique topography has created one of the most biodiverse temperate forests on the planet.
Rafa: “We have a lot of humidity that comes from the Pacific. We have the Andes mountain range that functions to keep most of the humidity on the Chilean side. So, the rain concentration falls mostly on the west side of the Andes at this latitude. That is a good thing because in a planet that is drying out, the fact we still have a lot of water here is a bless[ing], a gift. And is also a key to preserving this forest.”
Our next stop is the park headquarters, where we’ll begin our exploration of one of the most remarkable protected areas in all of South America.
Park Headquarters & Patagonian Jurrasic Park
From Chaitén, we made our way to the park headquarters at Caleta Gonzalo – a cluster of beautifully designed buildings that serve as both visitor center and administration facilities for Pumalín. The architecture here follows the Tompkins philosophy – structures built from local materials, designed to complement rather than compete with the natural landscape.
But it’s not the buildings that take my breath away – it’s the surrounding vegetation. As we step out of the vehicle, I’m greeted by what can only be described as a Patagonian Jurassic Park. Enormous Nalca plants (Chilean rhubarb) unfurl leaves larger than my entire body. Giant ferns create a prehistoric canopy overhead. The scale of the vegetation here makes me feel like I’ve been shrunk down to insect size.
Rafa: “The landscape looks like Jurassic Park.”
Brooke: “It looks exactly like Jurassic Park. As we’ve been joking this whole time, we’re waiting for a T-Rex or pterodactyl or something to just come out of these ferns. This place feels ancient.
Rafa: “It is, yeah This is a funke. This is a tree that looks like a fern, but it’s a species of tree. this is a tree that looks like a fern, but it’s a species of tree. This is the canelo, one of the sacred trees for our native culture and population of Huilliches. “
As we explore the visitor center, Rafa explains the vision behind the Route of Parks of Patagonia and how Pumalín fits into this ambitious conservation corridor. I’m struck by how his explanation echoes what we’ve heard from other conservationists along our journey – from Nico Lagos in Torres del Paine, Gabi in Cape Froward, and the Legado Chile team in Puerto Varas. There’s a consistent philosophy underpinning this entire project.
Rafa: “We want the Route of Parks of Patagonia to be one of the best examples of travel as a consequence of conservation. We want this area to become a great destination for conservation and adventure travel, but always thinking that it needs to have a positive impact and involve local communities. National parks are first areas of conservation. And then, as a consequence, we can have travel. National parks aren’t made for travel – they’re made for conservation. But we can do good travel in national parks and build an economy based on sustainable, responsible travel.”
After lunch at the visitor center, we set out for our first hike in the park – an exploration of the central forests of Pumalín before our journey to see the legendary Alerce trees.
Exploring the Heart of Pumalín
From the headquarters, we drove deeper into the park for our first real hike through the temperate rainforest. The trail takes us through the heart of Pumalín, showcasing the incredible diversity of this ecosystem. Though we haven’t yet reached the famous Alerce trail, the forest here is spectacular in its own right – a dense, multi-layered community of plants and animals that has evolved together over millennia.
As we walk, the rain has picked up again, but the dense canopy catches much of it, turning the droplets into a gentle mist by the time it reaches us. The forest floor is incredibly soft underfoot, a spongy carpet of moss and decomposing leaves that has built up over centuries. It feels like walking on a natural cushion.
Rafa: “Can you feel the soil here, how soft it is? These are soils that need a lot of humidity, water. We call them Ñadis – flooded areas. The humidity of the soil is a key factor for the Alerces to grow.”
The sheer diversity of plant life is staggering – from tiny orchids to towering trees, each occupying its specific niche in this complex ecosystem.
Rafa: “ This is a very diverse forest also. It’s a forest with a very high endemism. It’s a forest with a very rich presence of nonvascular plants. Uh, lichens, that can give you an idea about the quality of the air. A lot of climbing vines or epiphytes. More than 25 species of ferns, only in this forest. That we like to call the miniature forest because every single patch piece of trunk in that composition is a hot spot of life of nonvascular plant. It can become a shelter for some mammals. Everything is connected here.”
I think about how these connections extend across the Route of Parks. The Torres del Paine pumas we tracked depend on guanacos, which depend on healthy grasslands. The marine ecosystems of Cape Froward are nourished by nutrients from the land. The wetlands of the Maullín River filter water that eventually reaches the sea. Now, here in Pumalín, we’re seeing yet another vital piece of this interconnected conservation puzzle.
The afternoon light begins to fade as we complete our loop, the forest growing noticeably darker under the thickening clouds.
Rafa: “It’s amazing how dark a good, preserved forest can be. We were like in the middle of the night.”
After our first encounter with this ancient forest, we hop back into our vehicle to head to our next destination – the legendary Alerce Trail, where we’ll encounter some of the oldest living beings in South America.
Walking Among Giants – The Alerce Trail
Rafa: “This is the entrance of the Alerce Trail, one of the most spectacular trails of the park, even if it’s not very long. It’s a trail that tells us why it’s so important to preserve this forest, and probably the inspiration that Tompkins Conservation and Rewilding Foundation had to create this wonderful National Park.”
The trail begins innocuously enough, winding through a forest similar to what we explored earlier. But as we move deeper, Rafa explains that we’re about to encounter something truly special.
Rafa: “We are speaking about species that can live more than 3,000 years. [The Alerce] is a tree that was extensively logged in the past. So when Douglas Tompkins and the Tompkins Foundation found this area and they realized that there was still so much forest of Alerce trees well preserved, they had the inspiration, the strength, to preserve the area and create a national park that is the National Park Pumalin Douglas Tompkins.”
As we walk, I ask Rafa about the ecological importance of these forests in the context of climate change. His answer puts into perspective why preserving these ecosystems is crucial not just for Chile, but for the entire planet.
Rafa: “The temperate rainforests of Patagonia store three times more carbon per hectare than the Amazon. Not in total – we’re speaking in terms of proportion.”
The wooden boardwalk we’re following was itself built with conservation in mind, Rafa points out.
Rafa: “This trail was built with wood from trees that were already logged or dead.”
Brooke: “Yeah, we are walking on tree, and we’re like feet off the ground, too.”
Rounding a bend in the trail, we get our first glimpse of what we’ve come to see – a massive Alerce tree rising like a living column into the mist above. It’s difficult to process the scale of these giants until you’re standing beside them. The trunk is wider than a car, the bark deeply furrowed from centuries of growth.
Rafa: “These trees have very slow growth – an average of one centimeter of diameter every twenty years. What you’re seeing here is unique because it’s not easy to find an Alerce forest in this condition, so well-preserved in the valleys because the wood of the Alerces is so good, that it was logged for many years for construction, because it is very resistance to humidity. Look at this guy here.”
I place my hand against the rough bark, trying to comprehend the timescale of this living being. I think of the indigenous Mapuche and Huilliche peoples who would have moved through these forests for thousands of years, developing a relationship with these trees long before European arrival.
As we continue along the boardwalk, the trees become increasingly impressive. Rafa points out a particularly magnificent specimen.
Rafa: “Look at this one.”
Brooke: “Oh my gosh, I’ve seen photos of this tree.”
Rafa: “Yeah, this is a famous one that usually appears in pictures. Yeah, this is like two meters, probably two meter and a half. When it’s older, it concentrates all the leaves and branches at the top. But when it’s young, it has branches from the base to the top.”
Brooke: “How tall can these giants grow?”
Rafa: “I think this would be like 30, maybe 40 meters. Like a 10-story building.”
Brooke: “This is a skyscraper.”
As impressive as these trees are, Rafa explains that they remain vulnerable despite their protected status.
Rafa: “The tree is protected now, so logging this tree is forbidden by law. It’s still possible to collect wood from dead trees. But that gap in the law, also, is a risk in the sense that leaving that window open without a good control, can provocate that many people log live trees and then they say that it was just collected as a dead tree. We have to consider that unfortunately in Chile we don’t have a great control of the low that we approved because we have a lack of park rangers.”
This is why visitor awareness is so crucial for conservation, Rafa tells us.
Rafa: “ For that reason, it’s so important that the people know these parks. Because once you get to here and you realize what we have, what is being protected and preserved, how important it is for the planet, how beautiful it is, you become all ambassadors of this place and it’s going to be hard in the future to put this place on a risk. As more people is aware about its existence and its uniqueness. Take a look at this giant here.”
Brooke: “Oh my gosh. Oh my gosh. I think all of us would have to put our arms together in order to get this thing all the way around.”
As daylight fades, we drive to Caleta Gonzalo Lodge, another testament to Douglas Tompkins’ vision. The lodge, like all structures in Pumalín, was designed with meticulous attention to both aesthetics and environmental impact. Built primarily from local wood and stone, it seamlessly blends into its surroundings while offering a comfortable retreat after a day of exploration. This is part of the impressive public infrastructure developed by Tompkins Conservation throughout the park, which includes trails, campgrounds, cabins, and viewpoints that allow thousands of visitors each year to experience one of Earth’s largest temperate rainforests.
By the time we arrive at our lodge, the forest has faded to black silhouettes against the darkening sky, and the soft yellow lights welcome us like a beacon in the wilderness.
Final Thoughts & Looking Ahead
As we prepare to leave Pumalín, I take one last walk along the lake and forest adjacent to the lodge. Shafts of morning sunlight pierce through the clouds, illuminating the landscape. It’s a perfect moment to reflect on what makes this place so special, and what it represents for the future of conservation in Patagonia and beyond.
Standing in this forest that stores an estimated 229.3 million metric tonnes of carbon, I think about how places like Pumalín are not just scenic wonders but crucial climate solutions. In an era of global warming, protecting these carbon-rich ecosystems is perhaps one of the most important conservation actions we can take.
Rafa: “ I think that we don’t realize yet how important was the job, the task and the gift that Douglas Tompkins and Christine Tompkins gave to the Chileans creating all this National Park. And now speaking about the Route of the Parks of Patagonia, I think that it’s hard to realize how important is that legacy, how important it will be, for the future generations.”
As I prepare to continue my journey through Patagonia’s Route of Parks, I’m carrying with me the image of those ancient Alerce trees, standing through millennia of changes, bearing witness to the resilience of life. They remind us that true conservation requires patience and humility – qualities often in short supply in our fast-paced world.
But I’m also thinking about the lessons from Chaitén Volcano – how destruction and renewal are part of the same cycle, how landscapes recover and reinvent themselves after catastrophic change. This perspective seems particularly valuable in an era when we’re facing unprecedented environmental challenges.
Next Episode Sneak Peek
Next time on Rewildology, we’ll journey to the Aysen region of the Route of Parks and explore Patagonia National Park, a remarkable conservation area born from what was once a massive sheep ranch. We’ll meet Alejandra Saavedra, a dedicated wildlife ranger and coordinator of Rewilding Chile’s Breeding Centre, who’s leading efforts to reintroduce Darwin’s rhea – a fascinating flightless bird that plays a crucial role in the grassland ecosystem. We’ll discover how this ambitious rewilding project is restoring a landscape degraded by decades of overgrazing, creating hope for species that were on the brink of local extinction.
Until then, I’m Brooke Mitchell, and this has been another adventure on the Route of Parks of Patagonia.
Join Project Patagonia
Before I go, I want to invite you to become part of something bigger than just this podcast. This series is actually one pillar of a larger initiative called Rewildology’s Project Patagonia – where conservation truly meets adventure.
Project Patagonia is built on three key elements: Listen, Experience, and Protect.
You’re already participating in the first pillar by listening to this podcast series. Over the next eight episodes, we’ll journey together through the remarkable Route of Parks of Patagonia, uncovering stories of conservation challenges and triumphs.
But if you’re inspired to go deeper, you can join us in the field for the second pillar – Experience. In April 2026, I’ll be leading a small group of just ten people on an unforgettable expedition to track pumas and explore the majestic mountains of Torres del Paine National Park. This intimate adventure includes expert-led puma tracking, meetings with conservation researchers, hiking through breathtaking landscapes, and even kayaking to the magnificent Grey Glacier. You’ll literally follow in the footsteps of the stories you’re hearing in this podcast.
The third pillar – Protect – is where your passion can translate into direct conservation impact. Through our partnership with Panthera, the global wild cat conservation organization, your support helps fund crucial work to protect pumas and their habitats throughout Patagonia. Your donations help bridge divides between fragmented habitats, develop solutions for human-wildlife conflict, implement wildlife corridors, and support cutting-edge research.
Whether you choose to listen to this series, join our expedition, make a donation, or all three – you become part of a community dedicated to preserving one of Earth’s most spectacular regions.
To learn more about Project Patagonia and how you can get involved, visit rewildology.com/projectpatagonia. Together, we can ensure that the Route of Parks of Patagonia continues to thrive for generations to come.
