Pucon, Chile

I was first introduced to Pucon, Chile during the spring of 2024 on overnight run to renew my Visa. At first glance and without research it represented nothing more than a mark on the map, the closest village in Chile where I could stay the night and quickly cross back to receive a stamp for an additional ninety days of legal residency in Argentina. But my expectations of a drudgeries field trip began to erode as the bus headed west though the rugged landscapes of northern Patagonia. Austere grasslands of the San Martin region slowly transitioned to the extremes of higher elevations where sculpted rock formations and the Jurassic Period Araucaria tree composed images of other-worldly environments.

 

At the peak of our route, the paved road turned into packed gravel featuring deep troughs of erosion. The bus slowed to a crawl. But it was a welcome necessity as the exterior view became increasingly exotic with every mile. Eventually, we passed within full view of Volcano Lanin, a perfectly shaped inverted cone accented by a ring of white at its higher elevation. At this point, it became obvious, my trip of futility had become the highlight of travel and something I would have paid four times the ticket. As the bus pulled into Pucon, the rain began to fall, the clouds swirled, then descended. The next 24 hours were spent hoping for a weather break in an effort to view Pucon´s primary attraction, Volcano Villicaaria, But the sun never arrived before it was time to return.

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Fast forward six months. Its the fall of 2025 in South America, the leaves are beginning to turn and I am headed back to Pucon from the South via Bariloche. This time, my visit will last for a month. The central village of this popular destination was beyond my budget so I opted to stay in a cabin about twenty minutes to the west near Lake Cataburgua. This remote location offered easy access to the lakes primary beaches, a local grocery store and bus stop that received an hourly flow of transportation into town. Aside from the serene environment of which I could focus my work, the surrounding lake and forests provided endless opportunities to explore. 

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Volcano Villicaria.  I don’t know what it is about these geological anomalies but the attraction is magnetic. Antiqua, Arequipa, Lake Atitlan and Puebla all rank within the top tier of my favorite Latin American visits and everyone of them lie within view of a volcano. ​Add Pucon to the list.  Known as Rucapillán or ´Great Spirits House´ by the natives, this is an active volcano with a liquid lava pool bubbling witin its crater. Its a perfectly shaped inverted cone with a mild slope that moves abruptly vertical toward its rim at 9380 feet above sea level. When I first arrived, it had a few hints of white around the collar but after two days of heavy snow, it blossomed to an incredibly photogenic monument. On a clear day, it is omni present and a beautiful aesthetic tjhat can be enjoyed from different perspectives and at varying degrees of light throughout the day.

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The village of Pucon is a well balanced mix of backpacker hip including shops, restaurants, hotels and homes. Clearly, there is the obvious element of tourism here but its less overt than San Martin de los Andes and toned down to include more regional products over popular first world brands. Overall, I would consider Pucon one of the most livable cities of my travels, especially if you favor smaller villages and nature over the man made amenities of larger population centers. From my perspective, this is the ideal model.