New National Park at the End of the World is Opening in November 2026
Chile is working to create a national park at the southern tip of mainland South America. It is called Cape Froward, and it sits along the Strait of Magellan, southwest of Punta Arenas.
Rewilding Chile transferred land for the park to the Chilean government in 2025. The agreement calls for the park to be created within two years.
There are still steps to complete before that happens. Chile’s Ministry of the Environment announced on October 20 that it had begun consulting Indigenous communities and expects that process to finish by the end of March 2027.
People have lived along this coast for thousands of years. It’s part of the Kawésqar people’s ancestral homeland, and Chile’s park proposal says communities still come here to gather food and travel by water.
Researchers Found 10 Rare Deer in the Mountains
Embedded media follows. Please allow a moment for it to load.
In July 2025, Rewilding Chile announced that researchers had found 10 huemul deer in the future park. They had reached the mountains by helicopter. The deer are endangered, and the organization estimated that fewer than 1,500 remained in Chile and Argentina.
Cristián Saucedo, Rewilding Chile’s wildlife director, said the lack of roads had helped the deer survive. But “isolation alone is not enough,” he said in the announcement.
Rewilding Chile and CONAF, Chile’s forestry agency, also installed 20 cameras to monitor wildlife in the area in 2025. The cameras were collected in February 2026, and they recorded deer, pumas, culpeo foxes and several kinds of birds.
Visitors Can Take a Five-Day Camping Trip
Chile Nativo offers a five-day guided trek with four nights of camping. After a drive from Punta Arenas, hikers set off from the end of Route 9. Everyone helps carry the tents, sleeping bags, food, and water.
The first day takes them past San Isidro Lighthouse and what’s left of the old whaling station at Bahía del Águila before they set up camp by the Yumbel River. Two days later, they have to wade across the Nodales River. Chile Nativo says the water can reach their waists.
On the final morning, hikers head up to Cruz de los Mares, or Cross of the Seas. Chile Nativo warns that they’ll encounter mud, slippery metal stairs, and strong wind during the climb. After coming back down, they return by boat.
The company is booking trips from November 1, 2026, through March 31, 2027. Guests need to be in Punta Arenas a day before their trek for a briefing.
On the return boat trip, the group stops at San Isidro Lighthouse Museum. The Chilean Navy dates the lighthouse’s opening to July 15, 1904. It stands beside the Strait of Magellan, with the Darwin Range in the background.
Would you book a trip and explore this isolated park at the end of the world?
