Lake Chapo (Lago Chapo) description and photos - Chile: Puerto Montt (Topic)

Lago Chapo description and photos - Chile: Puerto Montt. Detailed information about the attraction. Description, photographs and a map showing the nearest significant objects. The title in English is Lago Chapo.

Photo and description

Lake Chapo (55 sq. km) is located in the province of Llanquihue, Los Lagos. This vacation spot with beautiful landscapes is located 43 km northwest of the town of Puerto Montt, in the Andes, in southern Chile.

At an altitude of 240 m, at the foot of the Calbuco volcano (2015 m), the lake stretches 17 km long and 5 km wide. It has a rugged coastline, surrounded by rich vegetation: tall evergreen coig & uuml; es oak, hazel and larch. There are also cypress trees and many species of ferns.

This is a good place to fish, as rainbow trout is abundant in its deep and warm waters. There are beaches and secluded coves on the shore. Access to Lake Chapo is possible only by a dirt road, so there are few tourists on its shore. The coast is ideal for long walks and cycling.

On its southern shore begins the Ahlerse Andino National Park, on the north - the Llanquihue National Park.

Thousands of years ago, next to the lake there was a forest of unique trees - Cypress Fitzroy. In Spanish its name is "alerce", in the language of the Mapuche Indians it is "lahu & aacute; n" or "lahu é n". It is sometimes called the Patagonian cypress. This is a very large tree - more than 50 m in height and with a trunk diameter of more than 5 m. Some specimens live for over 3600 years. During the Ice Age, Lake Chapo increased so much that the water flooded the entire forest. At present, very few of these trees have survived. Now the waters of Lake Chapo are being used for a hydroelectric power plant, which causes changes in the level of the lake. In recent years, the level of the lake has dropped so much that the dead forest has become visible again, or rather, all that remains of those ancient trees - they now stand on the coast like silent ghosts. And once it was a mighty, impenetrable rainforest.

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Topic: Lake Chapo (Lago Chapo) description and photos - Chile: Puerto Montt.