Hi all,

Soon I will set off from central Chile and will be going up to Cusco, before heading back down to the TDF, in Argentina.

I would like to know if any other Hubbers have exp. in camping and free camping in that part of S. America. Any tips would be great

One thing in particular, can you free camp in National Parks in Chile and/or Argentina? Anyone ever have problems doing so?

Many thanks!
rtw

I recently wrote about the panamericana, have collected some helpful links about:

Article in english:
4x4tripping: Panamericana Roadtrip - tips and tricks for overlanders

Article in german:
4x4tripping: Roadtrip - Panamericana für Selbstfahrer

The web provide much helpful informations about GPS Tracks, Wildcamp Spots, travelling with kids or dogs and much much more. And also very important - links to other travellers on the way, to get some recent experiences and informations

Surfy

__________________
About Overlanding, Travelogues, Equipment
Trans-Africa over the west coast

Almost all NP in Chile and Argentina require you to pay and entrance free or camping fee or both.

Camp sites in Chile are expensive, but you can camp on the beach for free. And once in the more remote areas of the Atacama you can find some off the road spots. Just have plenty of water.

__________________
--

http://www.ytc1.co.uk

This. I recently left Santiago headed north with all of my camping gear. I try to stay in inexpensive hostels whenever I can, but I have camped a few times. Generally "camping" in Chile means having access to hot water showers and a pool, but just sleeping in a tent. This means that camping in real campsites here is not cheap.

If you want more specific details, here they are. Between Santiago and La Serena is a small beach town called pichidangui. Right after the exit from Ruta 5 is a recreation area, which is a series of dirt roads and trails. Actually quite fun to ride around in on a motorcycle, but also where I spent my first night camping for free. There was no sign saying it was OK to camp here, nor was there a sign saying it wasn't. Either way it was free and no one bothered me that night.

From there to La Serena was easy and there are a couple good hostels there. This is where it got tricky. I was planning on hitting the two national parks between La Serena and Antofagasta, spending one night camping in each. Unfortunately an electrical issue with my new Honda forced a trip to copiapo. I spent that night in the small city of caldera since the one camping option I found in copiapo was 14,000 Chilean pesos... After Caldera I spent two nights camping in pan de azucar national park, at a cost of 4,000 a night. There is a beach before the entrance to this park that would be perfect for guerilla camping if you would prefer. Past Antofagasta things really open up. If you're brave there are hundreds of small dirt roads and trails branching off the highway, some of which even lead around or over small hills if you don't want to be seen from the road. I spent two nights camping in the desert for free with no problems.

I'm in a great hostel in Iquique now and have been moving very slowly if you catch up and maybe need a riding buddy. As far as going up Argentina, someone else will have to chime in with details, but I've heard there is more free camping there. Just be careful with the passes this time of year. Let me know if you decide to come up through Chile and have any other questions.

Kevin,

Thanks good info! How's the ride up by the way, in general I mean? I'm not sure to cross into Argentina to arrive in Bolivia, or just head north.

I won't be leaving until August, what are your plans? I hope to be in Bolivia by beginning of September, but nothing is set in stone. By the way, what Honda are you on?

Cheers
rtw

I found that many small towns in Argentina had a municipal park that allowed camping, usually free, but very cheap if not free.

__________________
Andy Tiegs
https://new.horizonsunlimited.com/ts...lsouth-america

Rtw,

The ride in general is quite varied. Ruta 5 after La Serena can get pretty boring, but Ruta 1 makes up for it. The Argentina ride might be better, but I won't know for sure for a couple months. Overall I've enjoyed the ride and the places I've stopped for a while.

My plan for now is to wait out the colder months in northern Chile or Peru, and go back down towards Patagonia via Bolivia and Argentina. I'm on an xr125l, which is slow but perfect for my needs and budget. Again, let me know if you've got other questions!

I have found that in Chile you have to differentiate in Spanish when you are looking for camping as two different types exist.

Hacer camping - pay to camp.. with hot water, bathrooms, separate camping areas
acampar - free to camp.. actual camping (in my book)

There are a lot of places that have signs that advertise Camping, these are all obviously pay to camp places.

I did the route from Santiago to Antofagasta a couple months ago (I work in Antofagasta now, if you come through give me a holler). I did it in 3 days about 550 km a day. I camped one night in Guanaceros, I wouldn't suggest it, in a pay for camping spot because I started looking for a spot to late in the afternoon and didn't plan correctly. The other night I camped on the beach in Bahia Inglesa (about 2/3 distance between Santiago and Antofagasta). I would highly suggest this if it fits into your route. Beautiful beach town and if you're coming through later in the year there is supposedly all kind of parties and action going on here. I guess they are lacking a couple thousand beds here in the summer time so they allow everyone to camp on the beach for free. I was talking to a guy I met on the beach about it who runs a kite surfing spot there, sounds like a pretty legit place to visit during the summer months!

Good luck with the trip!!

MLM

For all of you vaguely in the area, you can camp at my place two hours north of Santiago - in exchange for helping me out a bit with construction. ;-) In a week or so I'll begin a funky extension on my cabin with adobe/glass bottles etc. ALSO, there's some people here who have massive camping waypoints/info on camping: https://www.facebook.com/groups/panamtravelers/?fref=ts

Lorraine

__________________
Rallying for A Wild Life — THE FILM!
http://igg.me/at/AWildLife

www.LorraineChittock.com
www.facebook.com/lorraine.chittock

There are some good news about this topic here at HuBB:




A very helpful Website (an iOS APP is available too) - for collecting and for adding Waypoints and Points of Interest word wide. From Wilcamp Spots to Campsites, RV Parks, Gas Stations and much much more

http://www.horizonsunlimited.com/hub...hone-app-78384


Surfy

__________________
About Overlanding, Travelogues, Equipment
Trans-Africa over the west coast