Patagonia National Park, Chile
Explora Lodge
Explora Lodge sits within a rugged landscape crisscrossed with fast flowing mountain rivers and dotted with photogenic lakes. Owners Douglas and Kristine Tompkins, who first came here almost 30 years ago, have created one of the most beautiful, peaceful places to stay in Patagonia.
Explora Lodge sits within a rugged landscape crisscrossed with fast flowing mountain rivers and dotted with photogenic lakes. Owners Douglas and Kristine Tompkins, who first came here almost 30 years ago, have created one of the most beautiful, peaceful places to stay in Patagonia.
Explora Lodge sits within a rugged landscape crisscrossed with fast flowing mountain rivers and dotted with photogenic lakes. Owners Douglas and Kristine Tompkins, who first came here almost 30 years ago, have created one of the most beautiful, peaceful places to stay in Patagonia.
Explora Lodge sits within a rugged landscape crisscrossed with fast flowing mountain rivers and dotted with photogenic lakes. Owners Douglas and Kristine Tompkins, who first came here almost 30 years ago, have created one of the most beautiful, peaceful places to stay in Patagonia.
Location
Explora Lodge is situated in one of the most dramatic parts of the Patagonia National Park, a point where the landscape transitions from the Patagonian steppe grasslands to the Magellanic subpolar forests.
The lodge’s huge windows open out onto the Tamanto and Tamanguito hills, on whose slopes pumas stalk, and above which condors soar.
The lodge’s huge windows open out onto the Tamanto and Tamanguito hills, on whose slopes pumas stalk, and above which condors soar.
Accommodation
The simple stone and wood architecture of the lodge blends with the hues of its surroundings. Andean condors soar overhead. If you came upon the building by chance, you would think it is a homestead, not a hotel.
In keeping with this theme, the lodge’s eight standard rooms and five suites are styled simply, as if you were staying as a guest in a private home.
The rooms’ greatest selling point is their huge windows, and through them the magnificent views of the Tamanto and Tamanguito hills, where you might well spot puma, huemul, and guanaco.
With polished wooden floorboards and wooden beams across the ceiling, nature makes its mark indoors at the lodge, too.
In keeping with this theme, the lodge’s eight standard rooms and five suites are styled simply, as if you were staying as a guest in a private home.
The rooms’ greatest selling point is their huge windows, and through them the magnificent views of the Tamanto and Tamanguito hills, where you might well spot puma, huemul, and guanaco.
With polished wooden floorboards and wooden beams across the ceiling, nature makes its mark indoors at the lodge, too.
Gastronomy is a critical part of any stay at Explora Lodge. Meals are undoubtedly a time for pleasure, but here they are also an immersive, multi sensory experience.
The daily specials give diners the chance to explore Patagonia’s rugged territory through its flavours by highlighting seasonal local ingredients.
Many of the recipes are inspired by Chile’s gaucho legacy, a feature which feels even more meaningful as you gaze out at the majestic landscape as you eat.
At the end of each day, nothing beats retreating to the spa, soaking in an outdoor hot tub. Once night falls, the darkness of Patagonia’s skies is incomparable with its canopy of a million twinkling stars.
The daily specials give diners the chance to explore Patagonia’s rugged territory through its flavours by highlighting seasonal local ingredients.
Many of the recipes are inspired by Chile’s gaucho legacy, a feature which feels even more meaningful as you gaze out at the majestic landscape as you eat.
At the end of each day, nothing beats retreating to the spa, soaking in an outdoor hot tub. Once night falls, the darkness of Patagonia’s skies is incomparable with its canopy of a million twinkling stars.
Experiences
There are six distinct zones within the Patagonia National Park, each of which has unique geographic, cultural, and biosphere characteristics.
- Head to the Exploration Center, created in close collaboration with the National Forestry Corporation (CONAF), for an introduction to the park’s flora, fauna, and physical geography, then get ready to embark on an unforgettable guided adventure
- Challenge yourself to an exhilarating bike ride to Laguna La Pepa, breaking your journey at a traditional ranch along the way.
- Discover the Patagonia National Park in the most natural way, hiking straight from the lodge. 15 mapped walking trails pass through forests and steppe, by lagoons and along rivers, revealing Patagonia’s geographical diversity at a pace you can take it all in.
- Chacabuco Valley boasts some of Patagonia’s best birding. There is a thriving condor population thanks to rewilding efforts, and you can also spot species such as the Fire-eyed diucon, Austral pygmy owl, and White-throated treerunner.
- Everything looks different from the water. Venture by boat along the Cochrane River to appreciate rock formations carved by millennia of erosion and the flora and fauna which flourish along the water’s edge.
Positive Impact
We prioritise working with properties that collaborate with local communities and address location-specific needs from education to anti-poaching. We assess our partners to ensure the people we work with share our values of ensuring our trips continue to act as a force for good. Here we share some of the positive impacts your stay here contributes to.We prioritise working with properties that collaborate with local communities and address location-specific needs from education to anti-poaching. We assess our partners to ensure the people we work with share our values of ensuring our trips continue to act as a force for good. Here we share some of the positive impacts your stay here contributes to.
Conservation
After years of agricultural activity, the ecosystem surrounding the lodge had been damaged and many endemic species had disappeared. Doug and Kris Tompkins, US outdoor clothing moguls and philanthropists who have the aim of creating a new national park set about turning this around. As a result of their efforts, guanaco once again roam free here, a great example of the associated ecosystem that is beginning to return.
Environment
Alongside their determination to use mostly organic and biodegradable cleaning products, the lodge is almost entirely constructed from local and recycled materials. Patagonia National Park itself is also moving toward becoming a 100% renewable energy powered park which will make it the first energy-independent park in the world.
Community
The long-term aim of the national park’s project is to hand all of this land and infrastructure over to the Chilean government as a national park for the future. Doug and Kris include local communities in their venture, creating a sustainable park that supports both local wildlife and the former ranch employees.
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