Llanos de Challe National Park
Llanos de Challe National Park
Llanos de Challe National Park sits on Chile’s Pacific coast in the Atacama Region. It is a very dry area, but the mountains are kept moist by the Camanchaca—the fog that rolls in from the sea. This fog feeds a special landscape on the hills called lomas, which is one of the southernmost places where this fog-fed ecosystem occurs.
The highest point in the park is Cerro Negro, at 950 meters.
The park protects a fragile coastal desert and rare plants such as Leontochir ovallei, known locally as Garra de León. Cacti are common here. The area is also famous for the desert bloom (desierto florido), which happens occasionally after rains brought by El Niño–Southern Oscillation.
Guanacos, wild relatives of llamas, form the largest population in the Atacama Region. The seashore has pristine white-sand beaches and a coastal wetland that supports birds like common moorhens, red-gartered coots, black-necked swans, and flamingos.
In 2021, authorities detected and dismantled a small illegal mining operation near Quebrada Minillas at the park’s edge, where twelve people had been living.
Governing body: CONAF (Corporación Nacional Forestal).
This page was last edited on 2 February 2026, at 18:55 (CET).