Caleta Tortel

Caleta Tortel is a small town of 350 inhabitants that was declared a Typical Zone in 2001. The Caleta Tortel is the capital of the commune of Tortel of less than 500 inhabitants, where 80% of its surface corresponds to Protected Wild Areas.  The town of Caleta Tortel is located in the delta of the Baker River, the largest of Chile, in an estuary of fjords and channels, between the North and South Ice Field.

Between 1904 and 1908, the overexploitation of the Baker Company operated in Low Canoe, an area very close to Caleta Tortel and the Island of the Dead, causing the Cove Tortel to be occupied for lumber camping for the overexploitation of the cypress tree.

Gradually, in Caleta Tortel, using wood of Guaitecas cypress, they gradually constructed, an ingenious network of footbridges, stairs and bridges that go over rocks, vegetation and marshes, connecting the piers with the houses distributed in different areas of large rocks in Caleta Tortel.

The wood of the Guaitecas cypress wafts its unique aroma across the town of Toretel.

How Much Do We Love This Place?

The Good

• It's an area of immense beauty with the remoteness that people expect from Patagonia
• There are some of the best fly-fishing lodges
• A lake with pristine and calypso waters
• You can find lands laden with lush vegetation or layered in fields of ice

The Bad

• Few accommodation options
• Towns along the way are few and far between
• Some parts of the highway are deserted

Somewhere Special To Stay

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