# Trails in Chile. Anyone?



## sdlopez (Mar 23, 2009)

Looking to go MTBing in Chile...

I looked up some trails but they are all connected to some travel package. Does anyone have a site with trail maps or that can share there experience going biking in Chile? 

I will have to see how to board my SJ as well and see if i can finagle a way for them not to charge me! lol


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## verve825 (Mar 16, 2005)

There are trails in Chile. Miles and miles- and miles- of them. All of western South America is blessed with remarkable riding. The catches are as follows:

1. No guidebooks. This is why all your searches have turned up guiding services.
2. Big/remote/desolate/committing rides. The riding in the Andes tends to be of a pretty serious magnitude.
3. Medical help- and even the closest village- are often far away.

Basically, you have to be pretty competent and entirely self-sufficient.

All of this said, I've scored some incredible riding in very remote places throughout South America, by myself, with no serious problems at all. 

I'd recommend doing a few things: contact the South American Explorer's Club in Lima- they can help provide heaps of info. Check out climbing guides to Chile- often, approach trails make great single track. Be willing to pay for a day of guided riding, even if it's not very challenging- the guides will likely be much more willing give you beta on where the more serious riding is. Most of all, buy the best maps you can find for wahtever region you're headed to, and just go explore- the worst that happens is, you get lost, you drink some bad water, wander into a remote village, get dysentery, and have to catch a bus back to a real city. It happened to me, and it wasn't that bad after all... 

It's out there, man: miles, and miles of five-star trails. Go find 'em. Then ride 'em.

jb


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## hankthespacecowboy (Jun 10, 2004)

This sounds like an absolutely flippin' awesome idea for winter...


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## sdlopez (Mar 23, 2009)

thanks verve, makes total sense, I actually am 1st gen from the country born in the states, i have been there many times and can manuever the whole country on my own, but as far as emergencies and singletrack knowledge, you are totally righ about getting the guide. thanks man. Was boarding your bike a hastle? What airline did you fly through? expensive.


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## malski (Aug 28, 2008)

I´m in Chile right now for a few months and it´s definitely out here but not too easy to find. I just went riding in Pucòn in Parque Villarrica and it was amazing. Bring your bike if you can, it`s not easy to find a decent rental here. The best i´ve come across in Santiago is a trek 4300. There are some amazing parks all over the country and I haven´t seen anything prohibiting bikers yet. The sport is growing but it´s still kind of in the early stages so just be persistent and you´ll find some riding gold.


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## nmfly (Sep 28, 2007)

I went to Santiago a couple of years ago. Began a series of emails to a fantastic rider in Santiago that I found by his bike review in mtbr. He arranged a shuttle truck and a Iron Horse Sunday for hire. Had an awesome couple of days. There are trails of all variety - just need to make the right connections. I recommend searching mtbr for members in the area you are planning to travel to.

Good luck


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## jcaino (May 26, 2007)

I want to go to Patagonia something fierce. Good possibility that's going to be the honeymoon destination.


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## Gringo (Feb 25, 2004)

Patagonia is awesome, and the north around Santiago is really good as well with peak ski season starting soon.

For GPS support while you are down there, stop by the mall Parque Arauco in northern Santiago. Just inside the main entrance on the first floor is a kiosk that sells country maps on SD cards. Offer them half of the asking price if you look foreign.

G.


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## supimpa (Jun 2, 2009)

Sorry I didn't see this thread until now. I am chilean, live in Santiago and have been riding since 1992. We are blessed with amazing geography and scenery for mountain biking. Everything from desert (think NM or Utah only at altitudes which can easily reach 4.500 mts) up north, to So. Cal terrain in central Chile to north shore style in the southern lake region. Like Verve said though, outside of the trails close to major cities, you need a local guide or riding partner. The up-side is you will rarely ever bump into anyone other than the local wildlife. All those mountains and all to yourself..... There is a great outfit which offers good rentals, run by very pro staff with different trips depending upon the season. I have no association to them and have never actually ridden with them, but have friends that are customers and rave about the trips. Check them out for pictures and some of the areas that you may want to focus your rides on. Chile is a very long country, and unless you are flying between cities the distances are quite far. The outfits name is Pared Sur and their web site is paredsur.cl If you need any additional info feel free to PM me.
Cheers


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## Jacques Pienaar (Nov 9, 2009)

I totally agree with supimpa. I'm a South African living in Chile for the last 4 odd years. I've been riding the great Andes ever since. If you guys are really into coming here and riding these beautiful mountains I know of many trails in and around Santiago and 100km (60 miles) South. The trails are usually cross country styled but also has its All Mountain and longer enduro/epic type trails. We ride them all and take the best from what they have to offer. It is always a good idea to stock up with the basic first aid kit just incase you need to use an elastoplast. There are always thorn trees and punctures will be your trip spoiler if you don't ride "slime" tubes available at around US$10, inner wheel liner anti pinch twice the price here or the "white milk" tubeless system to keepthose holes closed alternatively, depending on the distance of the ride you will need to bring more than one spare tube, I'd say 4 to be safe. Being the Andes mountain the trails can be demanding and technical and could even mean a little bit of walking and climbing depending on the trail and your style of preferance. If you guys are coming out to Santiago Chile and want to ride, we're a fun group of mixed cultures with one purpose, the love to ride and to experience the freedom of nature of course the winds and whoops, jumps, trees, roots, rocks, water and a combination of the above adds to the fun and passion to get out there. 

Travelling with your mountainbike will require a hardcase available in the US and Canada for around 3 - 400 US Dollars. A good time to buy these items are when the seasons change and all the snow equipment gets to hit the shelves. a Good friend from Southern California got his Dakine Hard Box for around US$250 2 winters ago and flew over for close to a year in Chile. He said that he tookthe bike as part of his luggage capacity and had no extra charge. This info can be obtained from your travel agent. Good luck and fun riding!


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## killerdj72 (Dec 7, 2009)

Folks,
If you camoe down maybe if you PM me we can make some arrangements to ride in Santiago or surroundings....You will have to bring your ride.....
Ive leaved here for the last 10 years and the Andes...is something else...


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## Lray (Oct 15, 2014)

*Hello! 2014 Chile Mountain Biking*

It is now 2014 and I have the same question. Any updates here, after all these years? We are currently in Villarrita and Pucón area and would love some beta on any great mountain biking routes. Not finding much on the internet! From here, we will travel South through Chile and Argentina, and then make our way North through Chile, Bolivia, Peru, Ecuador, Columbia, then on up through Central America. Any beta on great rides would be welcome. We are experienced and can handle ourselves out there.

Thanks in advance!


sdlopez said:


> Looking to go MTBing in Chile...
> 
> I looked up some trails but they are all connected to some travel package. Does anyone have a site with trail maps or that can share there experience going biking in Chile?
> 
> I will have to see how to board my SJ as well and see if i can finagle a way for them not to charge me! lol


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## greasy_physique (Jan 27, 2010)

If anyone catches this in the near future, i am going to be down in Chillan making our way towards to Lakes Dist., looking for good single track and bike rentals. Going for work and we are squeezing in a week of vacation. Any beta on places, outfits, people, trail maps/maps would be great. We will be there the second week of March.


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## SFChristo (Mar 9, 2010)

There is a bike park at Nevados de Chillan ski area (about one hour from Chillan up in the mountains.

I am in Pucon right now and there are two very nice partial singletrack rides here. Both are shuttle-able, but I like climbing.

Sendero Conaf 
https://app.strava.com/activities/253251776

El Clásico
https://app.strava.com/activities/256764937

These guys do tours, do shuttle-runs, and rent bikes. Their website is only in Spanish, so I'm not sure if their guides speak English.
Bike Pucón Tours | Pucón Tours | Bike Tours Chile | Bike Chile


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## greasy_physique (Jan 27, 2010)

Awesome, thanks a lot for the info. Villarrica is a spot we have considered, if you have any beta for that region versus going down to Puerto Montt, i am also eager to hear about that. I've only been as far south as Santa Cruz-Pichilemu on a surfing trip years ago, but have friends in Chillan and am interested in traveling south while it's still moderately warm/dry, may find some biking along with some fishing and climbing etc.
Being that our time is short this trip, hitting some spots to take advantage of some riding would be great. We are much more in for climbing for a ride versus a shuttle, ideally looking for rides in the 30-50km range. I suspect, from what i have read, nearly all trails are essentially multi-use still. The last time i was there, bikes for rent were pretty much garbage but i have seen some operations with nicer rides.
Thanks again, i really appreciate it.


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## SFChristo (Mar 9, 2010)

I will most likely still be here during the second week in March. If you make it down to Pucon, and like to climb, I would be happy to go riding with you and show you the trails I have found. Send me a PM if you're interested, and I'll send you my normal email address. Villarica is about 25 minutes from Pucon, so the rides are totally accessible from there (though they are not 'out the door' rides from there as they are from pucon).

It looks like someone in town is renting Santa Cruz bikes; it might be that outfit I linked to previously. I'll have to look into that. 

Puerto Montt itself is not much to look at, but the surrounding countryside is beautiful. Puerto Varas is a nice little town with a beautiful view looking across the lake at the Osorno Volcano. The only problem with Puerto Varas is that it is a half hour from the mountains.

From Pucon to Puerto Varas is basically what's considered the lake district; there are tons of beautiful lakes and mountains, but I have not yet done much bike exploration in this area, so cannot make good recommendations.

Strava is pretty popular here, so wherever you end up going, you can use the "segment explorer" to find places to ride. March should be nice weather everywhere in the central/south part of the country.


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## Jackr2251 (Apr 19, 2015)

Hi guys. I am traveling to Santiago chile in June and then traveling to Lima/ Cuzco in Peru and maybe Bolivia. I am very interested in doing a lot of riding though am a bit nervous as am traveling by myself and speak virtually no Spanish. What are your thoughts on bringing own bike vs renting. I am a young 21 year old male with small experience in backpacking and never been to South America. Will it be hard to keep my bike safe? I don't mind paying for hire bikes as long as they are of good quality/condition/sizing


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## greasy_physique (Jan 27, 2010)

*Re: biking SAM*

Howdy- well, keeping in mind June is winter there, you are traveling North so that is good. You should not run into too much weather and it's quite nice further North that time of year.

From recent experience, renting a bike that does not essentially suck will be very hard. If you are going for a while, it may be well-worthwhile to take a bike. You will find it relatively easy to throw a bike on the buses that will take you longer distances- however, they probably won't be real gentle with a bike, they will get it there but they may end up packing bags and other stuff around it. At the same time, traveling with and packing/unpacking a bike box would be a nightmare to me.

The benefit of you bike will be you can get to most places you need to with a backpack on once you get to a town; most taxi drivers will throw a bike in their car but they will probably ask for a couple extra bucks to do so.

My main advice would be to identify places you want to ride (this could be one of the more-tricky things to do), and figure out a plan for travel. If you are just traveling with a pack, it's easy to wing it, but with a bike it's a little harder. I spent months in Chile traveling with a couple surfboards and that too meant it was hard to get around once i got to a new town prior to finding a room to stash my stuff in.

Not speaking Spanish can get tiring in town outside of the large cities, but you'll just have to get used to that. Also why having a plan and some places to go is easier; it probably won't be super-easy getting advice some people- especially on places to bike. Most concepts of "mountain biking" are still pretty different from yours or mine down there.

Have fun, i think you will find people to be generally very nice and helpful.



Jackr2251 said:


> Hi guys. I am traveling to Santiago chile in June and then traveling to Lima/ Cuzco in Peru and maybe Bolivia. I am very interested in doing a lot of riding though am a bit nervous as am traveling by myself and speak virtually no Spanish. What are your thoughts on bringing own bike vs renting. I am a young 21 year old male with small experience in backpacking and never been to South America. Will it be hard to keep my bike safe? I don't mind paying for hire bikes as long as they are of good quality/condition/sizing


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## DavideYakuza (Dec 18, 2013)

Hey guys, 
interesting how this post has evolved over the years.
Got 10 days in Chile end of July 2016 to get the best MTB experience.
looking more for all-mountain singletracks (deliberately trying to avoid #Enduro word, tho thats what I mean)
I speak spanish but I'ld rather avoid riding on my own.
Last year I've done a MTB tour in Peru Inca Adventure - Downhill | Sacred Ridesand was AMAZING! (see video below)
Problem is it was bloody expensive, us$2800. great service and support but accomodation and rest was a much higher standard that I would nomally go myself. plus its a canadian group so obvious so money get drained there

so here is the deal, I would not mind paying a local to show me around and maybe shuttle, then sussing some cheap accomodation and getting out a greating unforgettable Chilean Enduro experience.... oooops i said the E word.

any tips

cheers everybody


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## QbanRider (Oct 11, 2014)

Jacques, are you still there, or can you put me in touch with the group? I'd love to ride with someone local. I'm heading down there the first week of February.


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## Declan C (Feb 7, 2017)

Hi folks , dont know if this thread is still active but I just moved from Ireland to Puerto Montt and im looking for any heads up on trails in the area, I have got to know a couple of the local guys and gop for rides with them but most of the riding here seems to be on dirt roads, im looking for singletrack or as near as you can get to singletrack here, thanks in advance


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## Figman5000 (Sep 19, 2014)

*Biking near Santiago Oct. 21-22*

Has anyone got tips on riding near Santiago? I'll be in town Oct. 21-22. I'm looking for a decent trail, a riding buddy or two, and a rental (unless I bring my own bike). I'm proficient in Spanish. Declan, if you're around and looking to get in a ride, let me know!



Declan C said:


> Hi folks , dont know if this thread is still active but I just moved from Ireland to Puerto Montt and im looking for any heads up on trails in the area, I have got to know a couple of the local guys and gop for rides with them but most of the riding here seems to be on dirt roads, im looking for singletrack or as near as you can get to singletrack here, thanks in advance


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## los5 (Mar 26, 2012)

Any updates on this? Looking to travel to Santiago in May to ride in that area.


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