For Visitors
Cajón del Maipo, Chile
A mountain valley 45 km southeast of Santiago, carved by the Maipo River through the Andes. Home to glaciers, hot springs, Andean wildlife, and small communities that have lived here for generations.
This page covers the essentials every visitor needs before entering the canyon, regardless of why you're coming or how long you're staying.
Access
Getting here
One road into the canyon: Route G-25 (Camino al Volcán), starting from Puente Alto on the southern edge of Santiago.
By car
Follow Route G-25 from Puente Alto. Allow 45–90 min from central Santiago. On weekends, expect congestion from the canyon entrance.
By metro + bus
Line 4 to Las Mercedes. Exit toward Av. Vicuña Mackenna Poniente and board Metrobus MB-72 to San José de Maipo. Rural taxis (colectivos) continue further into the canyon.
Practical
Before you go
- Language. Spanish only. Basic phrases will go a long way.
- Cash. Most posadas and thermal baths don't accept cards. ATMs in San José de Maipo only.
- Signal. Unreliable past San José de Maipo. Download offline maps before you enter.
- Weather. Changes fast with altitude. Temperatures drop sharply after sunset even in summer.
- Fuel. Two gas stations in the entire canyon: San José de Maipo and El Manzano. Fill up early.
- Mountain trips. Before heading into high-altitude areas, register your route and expected return at socorroandinochile.cl, the official Chilean mountain rescue coordination platform. Look for the Aviso de Salida button and complete the form — it's in Spanish only, but filling it in could save your life. Rescue teams use this information if you don't return on time.
Rules
Respect the territory
A few non-negotiable rules that apply everywhere in the canyon:
Safety
Emergency contacts
Save these before leaving Santiago. Signal may not be available when you need them.
The network
Explore in depth
Each site in our network covers one specific area of the canyon with verified sources and updated information. All sites are available in English and Portuguese — look for the language switcher in the footer of any page.
Reading in English or Portuguese? All sites in this network include a language switcher in the footer — look for the translate option at the bottom of any page.
The territory
Twelve thousand years of human presence
The Cajón del Maipo has been inhabited for over twelve thousand years. The oldest documented human presence in the canyon dates to 10,415 BC, recorded at a rock shelter near the Manzano stream. Long before Spanish colonizers arrived, the Chiquillanes — nomadic hunters who followed guanaco herds through the Andean passes — lived here seasonally. The Inca Empire extended its southernmost reach into the canyon around 1400 AD, leaving ceremonial sites at Cerro Peladeros and Laguna del Indio that mark the edge of the Tawantinsuyu.
Spanish colonization transformed the canyon into a resource extraction zone. Silver was mined at San Pedro Nolasco from 1692 onward. Copper production at El Volcán reached 40 percent of Chile's national output in the late 19th century. The Canal San Carlos, built from 1802, carries water from the Maipo River to Santiago and has done so for over two centuries. The El Yeso reservoir, inaugurated in 1964 at 2,570 meters above sea level, now supplies water to more than seven million people in the Santiago metropolitan region.
The canyon today is still shaped by that extractive history, but also by the communities — farmers, herders, and longtime residents — who have stayed. San José de Maipo, founded in 1792 as a mining town, remains the only urban center in the canyon and the only place with full services before the high Andes begin.