The Cabo Froward walk is one of the few multi day hikes left in Chile that is unfettered by regulations or fees – but it is also unmaintained, muddy and has several unbridged river crossings – we decided to go off grid for a few days and check it out.

After a recent tragedy at Torres del Paine, the ‘O’ circuit is presently only accessible with a guide. Add in crowds of people, hard to get reservations and high fees and it is no wonder that many people are looking elsewhere.

Cabo Froward has been quietly sitting under the radar for quite a few years although there are now rumours of plans to build roads and turn it into a National Park. It marks the southern most point of the American continental mass and was named by Thomas Cavendish, an English privateer, in 1587.

For the moment, it is simply a matter of getting to the end of the road at Punta Arbol, a scenic drive through old weatherbeaten fishing villages to a point some 70 km south of Punta Arenas. There is free, safe parking and a very distressed bus which was once a cafe – only a cyclist would consider it for shelter these days.

There is a rough map of the route painted on its side and a few advisories. The main one is to be aware of the tides as there are two unbridged river crossings which are only safe to cross at low tides.

To Cabo Isidro

The first section to Cabo Isidro is an easy 5.4 km hike along gravel beaches to Chile’s southernmost mainland lighthouse. There are lovely views across the water to Dawson Islands and the Tierra del Fuego landmass and quiet forested bays.

There used to be a hotel of some sort at the Cabo – one of those great ideas of building somewhere no-one can get to – but the few ruins are now overshadowed by a smart low level private affair that wouldn’t look out of place in Byron Bay.

Skirting ‘No trespassing’, ‘No camping’ and ‘Take your litter home’ signs, we passed behind it to an attractive crescent bay where the lighthouse is found on a headland above.

This was inaugurated in 1904 and has a pleasingly traditional red and white striped appearance, although it is now run by solar panels. The attached house is quite impressive, a large brick, tin roofed affair with embellished doors and windows.

Peeking through the windows we were able to see a complete whale skeleton lying on the polished wooden floor in the central hall. Side rooms had native Indian artefacts.

It was strange in that there was obviously a flurry of activity in the distant past when all this was set up, complete with information boards and wooden stairs and lookouts – now everything needs a good paint job and the wooden platforms are decayed which is rather a shame, thinking of the effort that originally went into them.

Considering that the main reason most people would visit Chile is for its scenery/parks, there appears to be huge underinvestment in them and in places, widespread neglect.

The onwards path took us inland of the coast in places so that we found ourselves climbing up steep, muddy slopes, traversing the hillside and then dropping down again. The route was marked by an odd assortment of stuff: plastic ribbons tied to trees, boat buoys and even a sweatshirt.

It was also in a state of disrepair. We passed two rotten lookouts and whilst one could see that there had been boardwalks and stairs in the past, these were now crumbling.

After 2 km we arrived at Bahía El Aguila, a sheltered bay where meagre remnants of an old jetty, a slipway, clearings and a cabin showed where it had once been a busy whaling station in the early 1900’s. A jolly coloured fishing boat was tied up off shore but it left as evening approached and we decided to set up camp in the trees at the head of the bay, with a fabulous view out to sea.

The day had been intermittently wet and everything was quite damp so it was nice to have a fire and sit out to enjoy the evening light – one of the joys of walking here is that fires are still allowed!. Far off white horses showed where the wind was blowing out at sea but all was calm nearer to shore where only a sealion disturbed the water.

To Rio Tumbel

Due to our usual haphazard organisation, the tides were working badly for us. We probably had too leisurely a breakfast and didn’t leave until 9 am, initially following the edge of the shore. Smooth rocks sometimes helped, jagged outcrops required more careful negotiation and on the odd headland a short cut was provided if you didn’t miss it (cut across before the headland with a little offshore island!)

We walked along the shingles of Bahia Del Cañon and cut through to Bahía del Indio on a muddy forest track with little elevation gain. We met a couple of Germans walking out who told us that they had only just gone to the hut and a little beyond. It is an easy walk to underestimate: the varied terrain can be slow going and the river crossings take time – many people find they have run out of time and/or food.

After a couple of hours of walking we came to Río Tumbel, our first river. This was obviously once a lived in area, with a neat little wooden hut with faded paint, now used as a hikers shelter. Inside there were a couple of side rooms and a central area with a wood burning stove – by Chilean standards it was quite clean and even had a passable long drop loo!

The river behind was crossed using the mass of timber which had been washed down it, almost creating a dam across it. One tiptoed precariously from log to log and somehow emerged on the other side in one piece. I had thought that this crossing was dependent on the tides, but I think one could actually cross it at anytime, though it might be less effort to paddle across at low tide.

Having replaced our boots, within 50 metres, we came across another stream and had to take them off again, giving me a golden opportunity to drop one in the water! An Irishman returning from the Cabo gave us some tips on the river crossings to come.

To Bahia Bouchagge

We emerged on the perfect horseshoe shaped Bahia Del Indio from where a distinctive little island could be seen. It is called Tortuga Island and one can walk to it at low tide, not that there is anything to see.

Another section through the trees threw in some steep climbs from the beach, aided by some dodgy ropes, although once we had ascended the slopes it was quite easy walking. There was then a bit of rock scrambling to the next bay.

We paddled across a stream at the head of Bahia Bouchage where a pair of kelp geese paddled in the stillness and settled down for lunch before a long traverse over a headland.

A rough shelter in the trees looked as if it might have belonged to a shipwreck victim and I noticed a sign on the bank in front of it. To my horror I saw that it was planning permission for a tourist hotel, to be completed by 2033.

The thought of this pristine environment being destroyed was quite painful; one would think it merited conservation, not destruction.

The Bog from Hell!!

Sadly we started the 3.3 km path that cuts inland to avoid the cliffs. It climbed very steeply on the remnants of old stairs which were lethally slippery in the wet, and led through some interesting tangled vegetation. Unfortunately we had little time to look at the floral delights as the path degenerated into a wet bog, sending us helter skelter from side to side trying to find the dryer ground – this was certainly one way to ruin a beach walk!

In places the vividly coloured moss had turned to something like a wet sawdust which one had to paddle through. The ground was a wet sponge and inevitably there were the occasional slips where one’s feet plunged into the morass. One misstep resulted in a boot being sucked off! Add in the occasional fallen tree and it was quite an exhausting route. We were amused to even see bare footprints in places – someone had obviously just given up!

From beach to beach it took us about 2 hours, and just when we thought we were about to emerge, the track threw in one last surprise in the form of a large, muddy, log strewn stream.

Boots had to come off once again and we felt our way carefully across amidst the debris of fallen logs and an old sunken bridge.

The San Nicolas River

Pushing through dense vegetation, at last we emerged onto the beach, where a 600 m walk brought us to the San Nicolas river. We were close to high tide by then and it definitely wasn’t fordable so we curled up on a grassy slope to await 10 pm low tide – luckily it was a fine sunny day for once and I even managed to dry my socks out briefly, if not my boots. The river descended lazily between low mountains and there was a lot of bird life, including a busy kingfisher.

An hour before low tide, the water level had dropped sufficiently for us to cross the river, curving out into the sea on sandbars. It still came up to thigh level and it was a case of trousers and knickers off – at least no one was likely to be around!

To the Rio Nodeles

The next section to the Rio Nodeles turned out to be the nicest part of the walk yet. We walked along a gravel beach and after 2 kilometres came to a basic shelter, just large enough for 2 mattresses which were thoughtfully provided (not that one would want to use them!) There were also two chairs outside which did look very tempting!

However, I had read that if possible one should avoid the wood cut-through on the next section as it was very steep, muddy and had a lot of fallen timber – which meant that we needed to keep going so we could stick to the beach whilst the tide was favourable.

It was an area of jumbled rockfall but we were able to skirt the outer edge of it easily, with only one or two scrambles. By the time we got through it and back onto the beach route proper, we decided we might just as well do the 4 km to the next river.

It was easy walking along the gravel beach, with no detours through the woods necessary. We followed in the footsteps of previous hikers and the paw prints of foxes – we actually disturbed a large red one foraging amongst the seaweed.

We also had a glorious evening, unusual for Patagonia with no wind and clear skies. The sun sank ahead of us, leaving the mountain chain sharply silhouetted and dolphins surfed in the molten waters.

By the time we reached the river area after a 2 ½ hour walk, it was getting fairly dark and I was grateful when following a MapsMe suggestion we stumbled into the darkness of the wood and saw a fire ring and a space to put the tent.

It was 11.30 pm and it had been a long day, we went straight to sleep.

To the Cabo – or not!

We awoke the next morning in a landscape that resembled winter in Wyoming: everything was a washed out grey colour and we were surrounded by silvery trees. It was actually rather a beautiful place to camp with a 180° view of the surrounding mountains.

An Austrian hiker who had previously passed us at the lighthouse suddenly emerged through the trees; he had camped a little further along. He too was waiting for the tide and commented on how bad the bog had been!

“My motivation nearly stopped there!” He laughed and I thought it was a good way of putting it, glad that we weren’t the only ones who had found it hellish.

The river crossings that we had feared were posing no problems. We waded across the Rio Nodeles an hour before low tide with the water only knee high between the sandbanks.

We followed the tracks along the shingle on the other side but were soon wondering if we were indeed on the path! The coast became a riot of wet, uneven, jagged rocks, strewn with slippery seaweeds and fallen trees that one had to climb over. It wasn’t much fun and I worried who would rescue us if one of us were to slip and break an ankle.

Our carefully laid plan unravelled: our timing was perfect, we had good weather and no wind, the river crossings were fine and we had food for 7 days. This may have been part of the problem: this path just did not seem feasible lugging our heavy backpacks which were unbalancing us as we tried to negotiate the rocks and fallen trees.

We decided to turn back, have lunch and consider the options. The route to the cross was 10km from the Rio Nodeles. People seemed to advise about 5-5½ hours one way. The Austrian came back later having taken 3 hours to get to another rotten Mirador which was at about the 5 km halfway mark and the first place from where the cross which is mounted on the cape is visible.

He had then turned back as he thought it would be too long to complete the walk and get back over the slippery rocks in the daylight. I had heard that it wasn’t a particularly nice track anyway and I didn’t want to do a 20 km return walk in a day over it at my rather slower pace, so we decided that Simon should head down by himself the next day whilst I put my feet up at what was rather a lovely campsite.

To the Cabo!

Although low tide was at 12 noon, he was able to cross two hours before with the water only to knee height so was able to head off in good time (what we really should have done was move the campsite to the right bank so that the crossing wasn’t an issue).

Without the heavy backpack he found the slippery rocks much easier, although there was still about an hour’s worth of precarious climbing over them.

Eventually he reached easier going on a gravel beach around the next bay and was lucky enough to see some feeding dolphins.

After the headland, the beach had a lot of fallen trees which one could walk around (don’t go in the woods!) and rocky outcrops before a small bay which has the broken Mirador to its end. A rather dodgy rope led up a smooth rock, although Simon said it was easier to scramble up from the side.

The way ahead involved two more beaches, separated by a headland where a steep climb was necessary; in places there were ropes to help.

A final beach and two campsite spaces in the woods are reached. It is not possible to actually stand on the tip of Cabo Froward due to the precarious cliffs.

Instead, the only way is up, a steep 350 m 1.3 km muddy ascent to the Cruz de los Mares cross, with Stations of the Cross punctuating the climb. In places there was a rope, in another, three flights of metal steps, one wobbly in places – I would worry actually as they have probably been no more maintained than the derelict path.

This giant 24 metres high white cross echoes an original from 1913 – due to the weather there have been later editions and this one dates back to 1987 when it was erected as a homage to John Paul ll’s visit to Chile. It is in a trellis pattern, allowing the wind to whistle through – and typically for Chile, the paintwork is rusty!

It is actually quite an impressive thing in its own right, being so massive, but standing on a hill at 350 m, it also offers a grandstand view of the Clarence and Dawson Islands across the Strait of Magellan.

There is a small pond nearby at which one could probably camp if the wind ever allowed it – at least you could see the navigation lights shining at night!

Over & Out

Having admired the view, Simon headed back. He had taken 3 hours each way. Reaching the Nodeles, he lit a fire on the beach whilst he waited for the tide to drop.

The next day we started walking out, taking it slowly over 3 days and camping at Bahia Bochage and our first campsite again at Bahia Del Aguila. The weather held and on our last night we were rewarded with calm waters. We were completely alone in beautiful scenery as a dolphin circled lazily and a fox trotted up the beach. I only hope that the road never arrives – some places in the world should remain unspoilt.

NOTES

The National Park may arrive within the next couple of years so get out there now whilst you can enjoy it in glorious isolation. The region has also just been featured in the New York Times’ Best Places to Visit in 2026!

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2025/dec/25/cape-froward-new-national-park-patagonia-chile

The Chilean destination you should know in 2026 according to the New York Times

We had a hire car from Locano. Phone or WhatsApp +56 9 9900 5784. The price was about £17 a day which seemed less effort than organising transfers and the parking is free and seemingly safe at the end of the road. There are also plenty of good free camping spots before it.

The 3 river crossings are straightforward (in normal conditions). The first can be crossed at any tide via the logs, but it is a lot less faff to cross around low tide near the mouth (just stay on the beach and bypass the hut). The second and third can be crossed within about 2 hours of high tide – so in theory one can cross the San Nicolas and still have time to get to the Nogales in time to cross that or vice versa. For a day trip to the Cabo from the Nogales, camp on the right bank so you are not constricted by the tide. Tides times can be found here.

We took a leisurely 7 days but ideally I would suggest a 5 day trip, 2 to walk in, one to go to the Cabo and 2 to walk out – anything less I think would be quite hard work. Of course, the camping is beautiful, so it is easy to spend longer.

There are companies such as Chile Nativo who organise this trek if you want to spend US$3,500+ or it is possible to simply do a day trip in a boat to the Cabo for a cross ascent for CLP190,000 (approx £160).

After San Isidro lighthouse there are plenty of camping opportunities – practice no trace camping and carry a trowel! The area is thankfully fairly litter and loo paper free at the moment, probably because it is only attracting genuine hikers and not day-trippers! Camping places and the trail are marked accurately on MapsMe.

There was some minor cell phone coverage at the lighthouse and Bahia Del Aguila but that was it. We carry an EPIRB.

Walking poles are helpful in the rivers and on the beach, good on the rocks and a dead loss in the bog! River crossing shoes are essential and something to dry off with.

There are plenty of fresh water streams en route which are quite safe for drinking. Fires are allowed!

DISTANCES
(These are at my more leisurely pace with photo/snack/lunch stops, etc. – a fit, determined hiker could do it in half the time).

End of the road to San Isidro lighthouse
5.4 km – 3 hours
San Isidro lighthouse to Bahía de Aguila
2.1 km – 1 hour (first good campsites)
Bahia de Aguila – Hut on Rio Yumbel
4.3 km – 2 hours
Hut to Bahia Del Indio
1.4 km – 30 minutes
Bahia Del Indio to Bahia Bochage
1.5 km – 1 hour (rough wood section then rough coast section)
Bahia Bochage to Rio San Nicolas
4.3 including 3.3 km bog section – 2.5 hours
Rio San Nicholas to Rio Nogales
7.5 km – 3 hours (beautiful beach walking)
Rio Nogales to Cabo Froward Cross
9.9 km including 1.3 km 350 m climb from campsite near end – 5.5 hours
TOTAL ONE WAY 36.4 KM/18.5 Hours