La Campana National Park — Attraction in Hijuelas

The park is amazing, and worth a visit. The rangers and administration could use some improvement. I bought tickets online, and reviewed trail maps, planning to summit Cerro La Campana, a route which is discussed on the official park website. Upon arrival, we learned that that trail, as well as most other trails in the park, had been strictly closed for months (not mentioned anywhere on the website) due to some (from the sound of it ignorant and/or careless) hikers having died near the cerro, prompting the park to reevaluate trails, and do work, etc. We were sternly informed we would be fined and have a lot of difficulty if we strayed off the one single route that was open, to portezuelo Ocoa. We politely agreed we understood and we hiked, staying on the allowed route. The hike was lovely. I do recommend the park. However, I was annoyed by the ranger’s attitude, which verged on hostility, and also by the policy of closing down so much of the park, without a warning on the website, in what seemed like an overreactive response to the stupidity or carelessness of two people. In Washington, there are vast swaths of wilderness where people go and risk their lives hiking and climbing and occasionally do die or get seriously injured but they don’t close down the entire trail systems when this happens, as it is well understood that hiking in remote and rough terrain is dangerous and you take that responsibility upon yourself when you do it. I don’t think the park policy of setting an expectation that summiting mountains has to be totally safe is reasonable nor sustainable, and I don’t appreciate rangers treating respectful, responsible visitors like they are presumed criminals who need to be carefully monitored for opportunities for punishment. CONAF, this is NOT how you develop good will with the public and foster a sense of appreciation for this...

Entered through the north Ocoa entrance, intended to hike the sendero el Portezuelo de Ocoa. But the guards told us that trail was overgrown with thorns, so better to take the road to Mirador and Salto de la Corredera. "Plenty of palms along the way" they told us. "Is there any incline?" I asked. "No, just at the beginning.". Well, it was a steady but very doable incline all five miles up. But well worth it, the view of the falls from a little porch hanging off the side of the canyon was great. And continuing up a bit more to the Mirador and Area de Descanso ( where we soaked our feet in the cold water) was very nice. . Take your own water, there are cattle and many horses allowed to roam this park so springs are not potable. Too bad that CONEF doesn't dedicate more to the maintenance of these beautiful parka (and getting the cattle out--+there are no baby palms to replace the full grown palms thanks to browsing by cattle. So, like the glaciers, see it...

Fui a la entrada del parque del fin de semana recomiendo llegar temprano subir la montaña temprano por que son varias horas para subir y llegar temprano es preferible por el espacio que tienen de estacionamiento en este sector es antigua su fundación es del 1967 Fecha de creación: 17 de octubre de 1967. Superficie: 8.000 hectáreas. Ubicación: cordillera de la Costa, Región de Valparaíso. Altitudes: desde los 400 a los 2.222 msnm. Clima: mediterráneo.

Importancia ecológica: convergencia florística. Objetos de conservación: carnívoros, bosque y matorral esclerófilo, palma chilena, bosque de roble, matorral xerófito, ecosistemas de altura, red hidrobiológica, piedras tacitas, testimonio y lugares patrimoniales.

Este parque nacional destaca además por ser zona núcleo de reserva de biósfera, lugar de interés científico para efectos mineros, área protegida prioritaria para el desarrollo turístico, estar inserto en un área de protección con propósitos turísticos y fines ambientales y formar parte importante del hotspot chileno.

Tarifas*Adulto Nacional (18 a 59 años): $3.500 *Adolescente nacional (12 a 17 años): $2000 *Adulto Nacional (18 a 59 años) en situación de discapacidad: $1.700 *Adulto y adulto mayor extranjero (incluye en situación de discapacidad): $7000 *Adolescente extranjero: $3.500 *Tarifa liberada (costo cero $0): Niños menores de 12 años (Nacional o Extranjero), Adulto mayor Nacional, Menores de 17 años y Adulto Mayor Nacional en situación de discapacidad *Camping (actualmente CERRADO): solo visitas por el día. No está permitido el ingreso de mascotas - Prohibido el uso de fuego (Ley N°20.653). Servicios- Información turística y ambiental Oficinas de recepción y control de acceso para visitantes – Educación y concientización Ambiental – Rutas para Senderismo Sitios para campismo (picnic-camping) – Áreas habilitadas para estacionamientos (autos) – Miradores – Áreas de descanso – Visitas Guiadas – Rutas para Bicicletas. Cierre invernal Sendero Andinista (Tramo Mina - Cima cerro La Campana) meses de Junio a Agosto. Actualmente Camping cerrado: solo visitas por el día. Accesos- Sector de Granizo (Cima del Cerro La Campana); por Avenida Granizo paradero 45 comuna de Olmué. Sector Cajón Grande (Poza del Coipo-Robles); por Avenida Granizo paradero 40 comuna de Olmué. -Sector Palmas de Ocoa (Palmas Chilenas-Salto La Cortadera); por Ruta 5 Norte Km. 98 comuna...