Thru-hiking the Circuito Macizo Paine (Torres del Paine “O” Circuit) in Patagonia
By Araceli Muñoz Chaira, a 2025 FarOut Scout
For this thru-hike, I brought all my usual thru-hiking gear, packed my own food, and only booked tent sites. I did not bring any Chilean pesos but carried US dollars and Argentine pesos (as that is where I am from). If you are only traveling in Chile and plan to purchase items at the refugios, I recommend carrying Chilean pesos. I hiked in the park in late February through early March.
I flew into Buenos Aires to see my family, from there I flew to El Calafate. I took a shuttle to the town of El Calafate and took a bus from El Calafate, Argentina to Puerto Natales, Chile. The trip from Buenos Aires to Chile was done in one day. I found a hostel on the hostelworld app close to the bus station to then catch another bus outside of Torres del Paine National Park where a local shuttle takes folks into the national park for $10.
Photo provided by Araceli Munoz Chaira
Day 1 – 23.6 miles, 38km
I left the hostel in Puerto Natales at 6:45am to catch the bus to Torres del Paine National Park. The bus was fully booked, I recommend booking your buses in advance. Wanting to do a long day, I began at the welcome center (mile 0 on FarOut), checked the weather on the screen at the center, and went backwards to Mirador Base Torres with all my gear. I must have passed 100 people and encountered more at the Chileno refugio. I asked where the bathroom was and they wanted to charge me $2.000CLP. I continued hiking & peed in the woods for free.
Photo provided by Araceli Munoz Chaira
I reached the mirador (lookout), had lunch, and began to hike back to mile 0. The trail towards the “O” side of the circuit had less people & it was a beautiful sunny day. I passed by the Central refugio (refuge) & continued to Seron refugio. I encountered 5 hikers all afternoon, zero winds, and a peaceful trail with wild horses, birds I’ve never seen, and lots of water sources. The views were insanely stunning.
Photo provided by Araceli Munoz Chaira
Photo provided by Araceli Munoz Chaira
Around 6:45pm, I reached Seron refugio. There were people eating in the refugio. They had hot showers, restrooms, and a designated cooking kitchen area for those that packed their own meals. I took a hot shower, cooked dinner in the designated kitchen area and went to sleep.
Day 2 – 19.2 miles, 30.9km
I had breakfast next to some funny, friendly Chileans & started the day wearing pants due to the cooler weather. It drizzled a bit and soon the sun peaked out. I changed into shorts and passed 5 people. With every step I continued to get closer to something that looked like a mountain full of snow. I then realized I was hiking towards the biggest glacier I’ve ever seen in my life. A helicopter flew by a couple of times. The views were stunning. The next refugio on the circuit was Dickson. The refugio was situated in an amazing location looking at Dickson glacier & the helicopter had landed at the refugio. I arrived by 12:45pm, asked where I could eat my lunch and use the restroom. The friendly bartender offered me pizza & beer (for me to purchase) but I told him I was going to keep hiking to the next refugio, Perros. I watched and waved at the helicopter flying out of the refugio with other hikers.
Photo provided by Araceli Munoz Chaira
I found a hiker box with some Chilean ramen & decided to eat that for my lunch. More hikers began to roll in to Dickson to check in for the day. A staff member told us that the trail to continue to refugio Perros closes at 2pm so I took my warm ramen in my pot and ate it just past the gate with a gorgeous view of glacier Dickson.
The rest of the day was quiet, I encountered one woman toward the end of the day, and saw many more glaciers, such as the less crowded glacier Los Perros. I arrived to Perros refugio by 5pm and the park ranger asked if there was anyone behind me. He told me everyone would have to leave camp by 7am the next day as the trek from Perros over John Gardner Pass to refugio Grey would take about 10 hours. Next, I checked in with the staff with my reservation and he let me know where I could set up my tent.
There must have been over 100 people at refugio Perros. Music blasting through the cooking area, people drinking bottles of wine, cooking up elaborate meals with fresh vegetables, playing cards and experiencing pure joy. I was envious of the elaborate meals groups of people were cooking as I was eating my two packets of ramen and chocolinas (Argentine cookies) for dessert.
Photo provided by Araceli Munoz Chaira
Day 3 – 16.5 miles, 26.6km
My phone and watch alarms went off and it was drizzling. It was dark under the trees and I could see headlamps heading up towards John Gardner Pass. Today was the big day everyone was looking forward to! The trail up to John Gardner Pass was steep, rocky, muddy, and fun. The views were stunning as the sun came out, the pretty pink colors, the peaks revealing different colors. I passed a lot of people closer to the top and on the other side of the pass was glacier Grey. All day we would have views of glacier Grey. It was mesmerizing. I could not believe I was there. This glacier and mountains make me feel so small. I kept thinking, “how often does someone get to do this?” What an unbelievable day. There was no wind and no else in sight on the trail after I reached the top of the pass.
Photo provided by Araceli Munoz Chaira
Photo provided by Araceli Munoz Chaira
The climb down to camp Paso (a park ranger station) was steep and I was the first backpacker to arrive. The guardaparque (park ranger) warned me that there are 3 suspension bridges coming up and assured me that they are very secure. I arrived at refugio Grey in under 6 hours. It was supposed to take me 10 hours according to the park ranger at refugio Perros and I’m sure that is true for some. It was still early in the day so I decided to pass refugio Grey and had lunch at a spot with views of the glacier Grey. I did not have lunch in the refugio itself because they close the trails at a certain hour and I was not cooking with a stove for lunch today.
Part of the trail was burnt in this section from a forest fire in 2011. It was hot, exposed and as I got closer to the next refugio (Paine Grande) there were groups of people everywhere. I reached refugio Paine Grande by 3:45pm and decided to camp here. My reservation for this day was for refugio Grey (the refugio I passed around lunch time). I spoke with the staff at the check-in in Spanish & they were stunned that I made it so early from refugio Perros. Since I had all my gear with me they happily switched my reservation to sleep there. The Chilean staff were super friendly (They were happy to be meeting an Argentine!) and there was no wind here either.
There is a ferry that travels across the lake Pehoé and brings folks to this refugio. My favorite memory from Paine Grande is seeing folks carrying a whole watermelon, raw potatoes, tomatoes, and more vegetables. Have they been carrying these foods all along or did they come in the ferry? I loved looking out to the lake Pehoé and seeing a guanaco (an animal related to a llama) also looking out to the lake up on a mountain.
Photo provided by Araceli Munoz Chaira
Day 4 – 23.2, 37.34km
I woke up early, packed up my tent, and cooked some breakfast in the designated kitchen area. The sunrise over Lake Pehoé was stunning. The trail was easygoing towards refugio Francés. I was now in the “W” trek of Torres del Paine National Park. I went up to Mirador Brittanico with my full pack (there is a place to store your pack at refugio Italiano if you do not want to carry it) and I did not want to leave the immense 360 views at the top. I felt grateful to be alive and experiencing this moment. There were five people nearby and a larger group a bit lower. I laid down & saw two condors flying above. The clouds rolled in and I headed back down. On the way back, there were crowds of people who were starting to head up to the mirador. I was grateful to have woken up early to have that moment at the top of the mirador.
I continued hiking towards Refugio Frances. It was a smaller refugio than Paine Grande refugio and I continued towards refugio Cuernos. Refugio Cuernos was also small and sat on a hill. I got water there and continued hiking. It began to rain and the more I hiked the more the land began to reveal itself with beautiful blues and greens. I crossed one more suspension bridge and eventually I was back at the junction I passed on day 1 to Mirador Base de las Torres. At this point, I technically completed my circuit footpath but I needed to continue towards the welcome center. I continued hiking towards refugio Central where they had a massive field to set up tents. I set up camp near some bushes & then walked to the welcome center (mile 0) to check what time the bus was leaving in the morning.
Photo provided by Araceli Munoz Chaira
Photo provided by Araceli Munoz Chaira
I am content that I was able to do this trip in the spirit of a thru-hike. I love long, full days of hiking. The planning for this trip was stressful with all the reservations and transportation logistics, but it paid off in the end. If you have any questions about doing a similar trip, feel free to reach out to me on instagram @1800araceli