The centerpiece of Parque Nacional Conguillío , an Unesco Biosphere Reserve, is the Volcán Llaima (3125m), one of Chile's most active volcanoes. Llaima means ‘Blood Veins’ in Mapudungun and that’s just what tourists visiting the park got on New Year’s Day 2008. Since 1640, Llaima has experienced 35 violent eruptions. In other words, this monster likes to cough up blood.
Despite the firespitting, this wonderful park, created in 1950 primarily to preserve the araucaria (monkey puzzle tree) and 608sq km of alpine lakes, deep canyons and native forests, has reopened.
You can access Parque Nacional Conguillío from three directions. The first, and shortest (80km), is directly east of Temuco via Vilcún and Cherquenco; or take the more northern route from Temuco via Curacautín (120km); or access the park’s southern entrance, also 120km from Temuco, via Melipeuco.
