Mirador Base las Torres offers one of the most iconic views in Chile and arguably, all of South America—the rugged spires of Torres del Paine, towering above the electric turquoise waters of Lago Torres. But you’ll DEFINITELY have to work to enjoy these views—in order to get here, you’ll need to hike 6.3 miles (10.1 km) up an incredibly steep and rocky trail to the shores of the lake. If you’re up for the challenge, here’s everything you need to know about the Mirador Base las Torres trail, the best day hike in Torres del Paine National Park.
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There’s a bunch of different ways to hike to Mirador Base las Torres to see the park’s famed Towers—some hikers do a day hike (which we’ll be covering in this article), while others, like my husband, Justin, and I, opt to do longer backpacking treks through the national park, like the W Trek, a 45.7 mile thru-hike through the southern portion of the park, or the O Trek, a 73.5 mile loop hike that circumnavigates the park.
About the Mirador Base las Torres Trail
- Length: 12.5 miles (20.2 km) roundtrip
- Elevation gain: 3,326 feet (5,352 km)
- Difficulty: Hard
- Trail map
How to get to the Mirador Base las Torres Trail
The Mirador Base la Torres is located in Torres del Paine National Park (which is actually named after the iconic mountain spires you’re going to be hiking to!) in Chilean Patagonia. There aren’t any towns super close to the national park, so most travelers get here through the mountain town of Puerto Natales, about an hour and 45 minutes south.
From Puerto Natales, you have a few ways to get to the trailhead to hike to Mirador Base las Torres.
With a tour
In my opinion, you definitely don’t need a guide to figure out how to get to and around Torres del Paine National Park.
That being said, if you have limited time in your Patagonia itinerary for Torres del Paine, it can definitely be helpful to book a tour that takes care of figuring out all of the logistics for you. Additionally, a guide can help spot the unique flora and fauna (like pumas!) in Torres del Paine, which definitely adds to the experience when exploring this magical corner of the planet.
For example, consider this small group trek or this option.
Via public transit
Alternatively, you can get to the trailhead via public transit.
You’re going to want to buy tickets from Puerto Natales to the Laguna Amarga terminal of Torres del Paine National Park through one of the companies offering this route, like Bus Sur. You can either buy tickets online or, if you’re going to be there at least a few days before you plan on heading to Torres del Paine, at the Puerto Natales bus station. Tickets cost 14,000 Chilean pesos ($15 USD) one-way.
You should buy the earliest tickets that you possibly can to maximize your time on the Mirador Base las Torres trail—the viewpoint actually closes to hikers at 4 PM to minimize hikers climbing downhill in the dark, so you’re kind of on a time crunch!
As mentioned above, bus tickets can and do sell out, especially with respect to the early morning routes and during the busier months! So I’d recommend buying tickets on the earlier side, if you can.
You’ll ride the bus and get off at the Laguna Amarga stop. Don’t worry about knowing where this is—the bus driver will kick everyone off the bus to show their Torres del Paine National Park entry tickets to the rangers (more on this below!).
After showing your ticket to the ranger, you can either walk 7 kilometers down a very dusty road or take a Hotel Las Torres shuttle to the park’s Visitor Center, where the Mirador Base las Torres trailhead is. Pretty much everyone, including us, opts to take the shuttle, which costs 4,000 Chilean pesos (or about $5 USD) per person, cash-only.
You can’t reserve a seat on these shuttles ahead of time—there’s tons of them, so just hop on the first one you can, which will take you straight to the trailhead.
To get back to Puerto Natales at the end of the day, you’ll just reverse your steps from the trailhead, including the shuttle back to Armaga and a bus back to town. Some folks wait to purchase their tickets directly from the driver, but I’d just suggest buying roundtrip tickets from the get go, as the buses can sell out.
Insider tip: When purchasing your return ticket to Puerto Natales, be sure to give yourself plenty of time to get back to the trailhead—the hike down from the towers is incredibly steep, rocky, and killer on your knees. Luckily, there’s plenty of affordable beer, coffee, snacks, and wifi (for a fee) at the Visitor Center to keep you busy if you happen to get back to the trailhead early!
With a rental car
Alternatively, if you’re short on time in Patagonia and have flexibility in your budget, many travelers opt to get a rental car. In my opinion, it’s pretty easy to get around Patagonia with public transit, but there’s no arguing that you’ll have the ultimate freedom and flexibility if you get your own ride.
From Puerto Natales, you’re going to drive to the Amarga ranger station in the National Park, where you should see a bunch of buses parked on the right and some buildings on the left. Generally, cars are expected to park in front of the buses, but there may be a ranger or attendant directing you to park in a specific spot.
Regardless of where you park, you should get out and show one of the rangers in the main building your entrance pass to the national park.
Get back in your car and continue your drive. You’ll notice the road will fork here—continue on the path to the left, which will take you to the Visitor Center, where you can park your car for good in its dirt lot.
Some of the road to and in Torres del Paine is unpaved and a bit rocky (at least when we visited), but any passenger vehicle should be fine if you take it carefully and slowly. Just be sure your rental contract permits you to drive on unpaved roads.
How much does going to Torres del Paine National Park cost?
In order to visit Torres del Paine National Park, you are required to purchase an entrance ticket online at least 24 hours before your trip.
Prices vary depending on your age, nationality, and how long you’re planning on visiting for. If you’re only planning on doing a day hike to Mirador Base las Torres, it will cost 32.400 CLP ($34.50 USD), which will get you up to three days’ entry into the National Park.
I’ve never heard of entry to the national park selling out but still, to be on the safe side, I’d recommend booking your tickets as soon as your date in Torres del Paine is confirmed!
Insider tip: I’d recommend taking a screenshot of your entry ticket on your cell phone before you head to the park—there’s no cell service in the park, so you likely won’t be able to pull it up in your email.
About the Mirador Base las Torres Hike
From the Visitor Center to the Turn-off to the las Torres Trail
From the Visitor Center, the first 1.5 miles (2.4 km) of the trail is quite flat, weaving through open fields and past a handful of campgrounds and the bougie Hotel Las Torres Patagonia.
There’s a LOT of random trails here, leading every which way, so keep your eyes peeled and follow the signs for “Refugio Chileno.”
After the first 1.5 miles (2.4 km), the trail will fork sharply to the right onto the Las Torres Trail and head right up a mountain—that’s where we’re going!
Las Torres Trail to Refugio Chileno
The next 1.4 miles (2.3 km) are up a steep and dusty trail. As you climb higher and higher, you’ll eventually reach a ridgeline that overlooks a deep canyon carved by the turquoise waters of Rio Ascencio. Just remember to (literally) hold on to your hats here—this area is known as “Windy Pass” and it DEFINITELY lives up to its name!
Once you’ve hiked about 3.0 miles (4.8 km), the trail flattens out and actually slopes down a bit until you reach Refugio Chileno, a popular campsite for W and O Trek hikers.
This is a great place to have a snack or lunch on its patio and, if you have clear skies, get a glimpse of the Towers, peeking over the mountains on the opposite side of the river. There’s also bathrooms with flushing toilets here, but you have to pay a nominal fee to use them if you’re not staying the night.
Refugio Chileno to Mirador Base las Torres
After your break here, you make your final push up to the mirador.
The next 2.6 miles (4.2 km) is through a dense forest, with gently rolling hills and an extremely gradual incline along the pathway. I had always heard that the final climb up to the Towers was really tough and was surprised by this section’s mildness. But don’t be fooled—the hard part is definitely still coming!
The trail will eventually get a bit steeper and you’ll reach a clearing, with a sign pointing uphill to Mirador Base Las Torres and for Campamento Torres, a now defunct campsite that used to be run by the national park.
Insider tip: It’s important to note that the trail, past Campamento Torres, closes every day in the afternoon to prevent hikers from climbing downhill in the dark later on.
When we visited, you needed to start hiking up past Campamento Torres no later than 3 PM and were kicked out of the Mirador Base las Torres by rangers at 4 PM. So it’s SUPER important that you start the hike early enough so that you actually have a chance to make it up to the mirador!
This is where the REAL climbing starts. Over the next 0.6 miles, you’ll need to climb about 1,000 feet (or about 305 meters in less than a kilometer) over a pathway of massive boulders, loose scree fields, and steep cliffsides. Even though this section feels like it goes on forever and ever, be sure to hike it slowly and carefully—we passed several people on the way who hurt themselves on this section, who could barely make it back down the mountain safely with the help of their hiking companions.
Finally, after the grueling climb to the top, you’ll reach the mirador, with the stunningly turquoise waters of Lago Torres, the three shockingly jagged spires of the mountain, and the surrounding dramatic cliffsides. Keep your eyes peeled around the Towers—this is an awesome spot to see the Andean condor, one of the largest birds on the planet!
I’d recommend budgeting for at least an hour or two hanging out at the mirador. The Towers are frequently obscured by clouds in the afternoon, so it’ll give you some time to wait out the weather and hopefully, catch a glimpse of them—plus, you’re going to want to take a zillion pictures and videos, right?
Mirador Base las Torres back to the trailhead
Once you’re done taking in the views of the arguably the most famous mountain in South America, simply retrace your steps back to the trailhead.
Just be sure to go nice and slow on the steep and rocky section right before you reach the Mirador—I’d argue that going down is actually tougher (especially on your knees!) than going up. And trekking poles are an absolute MUST in this area—your knees will thank me later!
When to hike the Mirador Base las Torres Trail
The best time to hike to the Mirador Base las Torres is from October through April, when most of the trail is clear of ice and snow.
For the best chance of warmer weather and clear skies, I’d suggest timing your visit from December through February. We visited at the very beginning of February and, even though the weather forecast looked positively gnarly before we started the W Trek, we had incredible weather (especially considering the volatility of Patagonia!) almost the entire time.
Torres del Paine National Park is open year round, so you can theoretically hike to Mirador Base las Torres year round. However, given the intense (and potentially dangerous) weather in the winter in Patagonia, you are only permitted to hike to the Towers in the colder months (typically from May through September) if you have a certified guide. And, even with a guide, the viewpoint may not be accessible, depending on when you visit (e.g., from heavy snowfall or avalanche risk), so, if your heart is absolutely set on seeing those iconic spires, I would not suggest visiting during the wintertime.
Insider tip: Most weather forecasting sites that we looked at when we were hiking around Torres del Paine National Park were INCREDIBLY wrong. The best tool to use, in our experience, is Wind Guru, which shows a granular breakdown of areas around the park, including at the mirador itself and at Refugio Chileno.
Tips for hiking to the Mirador Base las Torres
Consider spending the night
Due to weather patterns you have the very best chance of seeing the Towers in the early morning, as in, close to sunrise. In the afternoons, the Towers can be obscured by thick clouds—this is EXACTLY what happened to us on our first day of the W Trek.
That being said, if you’re bussing to the park from Puerto Natales in the morning, you’re realistically not going to hike up to the Towers until, at the very earliest, 12 PM or so (and that’s if you’re a SUPER fast hiker!).
Accordingly, you may want to consider spending the night, either at one of the campgrounds around the mirador, like Refugio Chileno (which is the closest accommodations to the Towers and your best bet if you want to be up at the mirador as close to sunrise as possible) or Campamento Central, or at one of the nearby hotels, like Hotel Las Torres Patagonia, so that you can get up to the Towers a bit earlier.
Pssst…the W trek and Mirador Base las Torres are some of the best and most popular hikes in Patagonia. Accordingly, making reservations for any of the refugios or campgrounds in Torres del Paine is quite competitive, due to the extremely high demand and limited space.
For more information on making a reservation, check out the section on booking accommodations in Torres del Paine in our W Trek article.
Lots of hikers—including myself—hike up to the mirador to watch the golden fiery glow of sunrise light up the iconic spires. But the trail is technically closed until after sunrise, usually around 6:30 AM in the summertime, for the VERY good reason of preventing hikers from falling and hurting themselves.
For what it’s worth, it doesn’t seem like this restriction is enforced in any way, shape, or form—there were at least 50 other hikers up at the viewpoint with me during sunrise. Still, to fully comply with the park’s rules (which you should—do as I say, not as I do!), you should wait until after sunrise to start hiking on the trails in the national park.
Come prepared with the right gear
As with any hike, you should come equipped with everything you’ll need, including:
- A refillable Nalgene bottle (there’s potable water at Refugio Chileno)
- Waterproof hiking boots (mens and womens) for additional support and traction on the uneven, rocky, and sometimes very wet terrain
- Sun protection, including sunscreen, a baseball hat, and sunglasses
- Trekking poles
- Plenty of warm layers, including a puffer jacket and beanie
- A rain jacket (mens and womens)
- Rainpants (mens and womens)
- Gloves, if you plan on going up to the mirador early in the morning—when I went for sunrise, it was absolutely FREEZING! (mens and womens)
There you have it—everything you need to know to climb up to the Mirador Base las Torres as a day hike. Do you have any questions about hiking this trail? Let me know in the comments below!
