El Yeso Dam — Attraction in San José de Maipo

This is an amazing place to visit.

It is a lake filled by a glacier from high up in the Andes.

There is evidence of global warming and climate change. The peaks of the Andes used to have snow and glaciers on the upper reaches all of the year round. Now, these melt away during the summer months.

Nevertheless, the lake was still relatively full when we visited there in March 2023. Down at the beach end it was about 300 metres away from where it needs to be.

The lake is one of the main reservoirs for Santiago City itself.

The road in the upper reaches is narrow and disty. Keep the windows up and the air con on.

Lorries are continually driving up and down this road, to and from a quarry. In busy periods you will have to wait you turn before going ahead, or, suffer a hair raising passing exercise with wheels hanging over the edge of the road.

Be aware that some drivers refuse to wait their turn and they will still come along the road forcing you into this dangerous move.

The best times are during the week and outside of the holiday period. Weekends get very busy and the road is often packed to bursting with drivers struggling to pass one another.

People will also just stop, on the road, to take a photograph where there is zero room to pass.

Quieter times, during the week, makes it far easier to navigate along the narrow road.

Toilet is basic to non existent. Porta loos are there more times than not, but, they are not a permanent fixture.

Coming down at night is an experience. If you are a nervous driver leave plenty of time for the descent in daylight hours.

The views are worth the effort and drive. They are fantastic.

There is nothing else here, but, the views. No Cafe, drinks station etc... just a glacier filled lake. if nature is not your thing, give it a miss. If you like panoramic inspiring views, then make this...

Beautiful location with stunning scenery. Road is paved most of the way, becomes unsealed about a km before the start of the dam. Unsealed road is in good condition although sensible polite driving would be recommended as there are many spots where it is too narrow for two cars to pass. The road continues around the side of the dam and a few km further into the valley to Parque El Yeso. Gorgeous views and goats along the road. It appeared to be a very popular camping area (especially on the 'beach' at the shallow end of the dam) but no facilities provided so bring your own stuff. A small stand selling food was at the beginning of the lake when we visited but I am unsure if it is always there. Even in mid summer it was windy and quite nippy - bring sweaters. Kids had a ball exploring and walking, falling into streams and talking to goats. We even spotted a...

I came here on a day trip from Santiago as I wanted to cross the Andes off my list, but this is one of the few places I felt was a waste of time and money. It looks beautiful in winter, but in the summer it's just barren rock. But even so, it's just a reservoir surrounded by low barren mountains, nothing special. I can drive a couple hours from my house and see much nicer alpine lakes. If you've never been to the mountains before, sure you come here. Othwerwise, it's not worth it at all. Not to mention when we were there, there were tour vans illegally driving on the path and some local kid threw a rock at a fox. Actually, the fox sighting was the only thing that made...