Top 10 Waterfalls in Chile
Chile stretches over 4,000 kilometres from desert to ice, and its waterfalls follow the wet south. The Lake District (Los Ríos and Los Lagos) and the Araucanía, with their volcanoes, ancient forests, and high rainfall, hold the densest concentration; Patagonia adds glacial and turquoise rivers. Most are fed by rain and snowmelt off the Andes and run year round, fullest in the southern spring and summer (October to March). All ten below are on the map.
1. Salto del Laja, Biobío
Salto del Laja on the Río Laja is sometimes called Chile's Niagara — a wide horseshoe where the river drops about 35 metres over a broad rock shelf into a gorge. It lies directly beside the Ruta 5 (Pan-American Highway) between Santiago and the south, making it one of the country's most accessible falls. Strong year round, fullest in the wet southern winter and spring.
2. Saltos del Petrohué, Los Lagos
The Petrohué falls in Vicente Pérez Rosales National Park are not tall but extraordinary: the Río Petrohué churns turquoise through chutes carved in black volcanic rock from the Osorno volcano, with the snow cone of Osorno behind. Boardwalks reach viewpoints. Fed by Lake Todos los Santos, they run year round; the volcanic setting is unforgettable.
3. Salto Huilo Huilo, Los Ríos
Huilo Huilo in the private Huilo Huilo reserve drops about 35 metres in a powerful, broad cascade through temperate rainforest, the dark water churning white over volcanic rock. A short trail reaches viewpoints. It is the centrepiece of an ecotourism reserve famed for its native forest. Fullest in the rainy season.
4. Salto del Indio, Los Lagos
Salto del Indio near Entre Lagos drops through dense southern forest, named for a legend of an indigenous man who hid behind the falls. A short trail through ancient coigüe and ulmo trees reaches it. The combination of cascade and old-growth forest makes it a tranquil stop on the route toward the Puyehue volcano.
5. Salto de la Princesa, Araucanía
Salto de la Princesa near Malalcahuello in the Araucanía drops about 50 metres in a slender fall through araucaria (monkey-puzzle) forest, the iconic tree of the region. A roadside viewpoint and short trail reach it. Set against the volcanic landscape of the Lonquimay area, it is a highlight of the Araucanía's scenic routes.
6. Velo de la Novia, Araucanía
The Velo de la Novia (Bridal Veil) near Curacautín is one of several falls in the Malalcahuello-Conguillío area, dropping in a fine veil through native forest. The region around the Llaima and Lonquimay volcanoes holds many such cascades, fed by snowmelt and rain, fullest in spring.
7. Saltos del Río Truful-Truful, Araucanía
In Conguillío National Park, the Río Truful-Truful drops through a gorge cut into layered volcanic ash and lava from the Llaima volcano, the strata visible in the canyon walls. The falls and the surrounding araucaria forest, with Llaima behind, make Conguillío one of Chile's most striking volcanic parks. Fullest in spring snowmelt.
8. Salto Grande, Magallanes (Patagonia)
Salto Grande in Torres del Paine National Park is a powerful, low falls where the Río Paine drops between Lago Nordenskjöld and Lago Pehoé, the turquoise glacial water surging over rock with the Cuernos del Paine behind. A short, flat trail from the road reaches it. A classic Patagonian viewpoint, windy and dramatic.
9. Ventisquero Colgante, Aysén (Patagonia)
The Ventisquero Colgante (Hanging Glacier) in Queulat National Park is a glacier on a cliff from which meltwater falls hundreds of metres into a lagoon below — a waterfall born directly from ice. A trail through Valdivian rainforest reaches a viewpoint across the valley. Fed by the glacier, it is most active in summer melt.
10. Salto El Maqui, Maule
Salto El Maqui in the Maule pre-Cordillera drops through native forest in the Achibueno valley, a quieter central-Chilean fall reached by a trail from the valley. The Maule region's foothills hold several such cascades, fed by Andean snowmelt and strongest in the spring melt of October and November.
Planning a Chile waterfall trip
The Araucanía and Lake District (Petrohué, Huilo Huilo, the Araucanía falls) form the densest and most rewarding cluster, reachable from Temuco, Pucón, or Puerto Varas and best combined with the volcanoes and lakes. Salto del Laja is a roadside stop on the highway south. Patagonia (Salto Grande, Ventisquero Colgante) belongs to a Torres del Paine or Carretera Austral trip. The southern spring and summer (October to March) bring the best weather and strong snowmelt flow.
Volcanoes, forests, and turquoise water
Chile's most distinctive falls owe their character to volcanic geology and ancient forest rather than sheer height. At Petrohué and Truful-Truful, rivers have carved chutes and gorges through hard volcanic rock laid down by nearby volcanoes, and the water often runs an intense turquoise from glacial and mineral content. The surrounding forests — araucaria in the Araucanía, Valdivian temperate rainforest further south — frame the falls with some of the oldest tree species on earth. This pairing of young volcanic rock and ancient forest is what makes a Chilean waterfall feel different from an Alpine or tropical one: the drama is in the setting as much as the drop. In Patagonia, the falls turn glacial, with ice itself feeding the water.
Explore on the map
Every waterfall above is plotted on the interactive map — filter to plan a Lake District and Araucanía circuit around the volcanoes or a Patagonian trip taking in Torres del Paine and the Carretera Austral.