National Geographic Special - The World\'s Most Beautiful Places

17 PEAKS & VALLEYS

torres del

paine

PATAGONIA, CHILE

Yes, they are torres—towers—but no human-

made tower has the awe-inspiring grandeur

of the vast, soaring granite monoliths at the

heart of the Torres del Paine massif. Yet this

great easterly spur of the Andes, protected

by a 935-square-mile (2,422 sq km) national

park, ofers far more than skyscraping

spires and pinnacles. Trails wend through

pine-scented forest, past emerald lakes, and

across windswept plains to the fringes of

the Grey, Dickson, and other glaciers of the

Southern Patagonian Ice Field.

DON’T MISS

Day hikes on good, marked trails ofer views of the

Paine’s celebrated pinnacles. Hikers can follow the

famous “W” trail through the mountains in five days,

staying at refugios, or make a full circuit of the mas-

sif in eight or nine days.

Sunrise casts the granite spires and rock walls of

Patagonia’s Paine massif in a golden glow.