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- Cochamó Valley (Spanish pronunciation: [kotʃamo] is a U-shaped valley located in the Andes, in Los Lagos Region of Chile, south of Vicente Pérez Rosales National Park and east of the Reloncaví Estuary. The valley takes its name from the river of Cochamó, and has a striking similarity to Yosemite Valley, due to its granite domes and old-growth forests. Like Yosemite, hikers and rock climbers from around the world come for the valley's several 1,000 meters (3,300 ft) granite walls. A developing eco-tourism location for serious hikers with trails ranging from easy to challenging, and a myriad of rare bird and plant life, and a stunning landscape. Five kilometers from the village of Cochamó is a 6km gravel road that terminates at the hiking trail that leads into this east-west running valley. The trail carries on up through Argentina, traverses some of the most unspoiled areas of northern Patagonia, and rewards travelers with views of granite walls, plunging waterfalls, soaring condors, towering Alerce trees, and the magical deep-blue Vidal Gormaz Lake, known for trout fishing. The trail is more than 100 years old, and was used to transport Argentinean beef cattle from across the border to be shipped from Cochamó to the hungry nitrate miners in far northern Chile. In turn, dried and smoked fish and shellfish made the return journey into the mountains and across Paso El León into Argentina. The trail's most famous users were Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid, who, while hiding out for a couple of years at their ranch in Argentina, actually drove their own cattle down to sell in Cochamó. (en)
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