Rugged volcanic steppe pocked with craters, caves and twisted formations, Pali Aike means 'devil's country' in Tehuelche. This desolate landscape is a 50-sq-km park along the Argentine border. Mineral content made lava rocks red, yellow or green-gray. Fauna includes abundant guanaco, ñandú, gray fox and armadillo. In the 1930s Junius Bird's excavations at 17m-deep Pali Aike Cave yielded the first artifacts associated with extinct New World fauna such as the milodón and the native horse Onohippidium.
The park has several trails, including a 1.7km path through the rugged lava beds of the Escorial del Diablo to the impressive Crater Morada del Diablo; wear sturdy shoes or your feet could be shredded. There are hundreds of craters, some four stories high. A 9km trail from Cueva Pali Aike to Laguna Ana links a shorter trail to a site on the main road, 5km from the park entrance.
Parque Nacional Pali Aike is 200km northeast of Punta Arenas via RN9, Ch 255 and a graveled secondary road from Cooperativa Villa O'Higgins, 11km north of Estancia Kimiri Aike. There's also access from the Chilean border post at Monte Aymond. There is no public transport, but Punta Arenas travel agencies offer full-day tours.
