Paddling near Padre Las Casas, La Araucanía

Padre Las Casas sits across the Río Cautín from Temuco in the heart of La Araucanía, a region recognized internationally for its concentration of volcanic rivers and glacier-fed lakes. The Cautín runs immediately beside the city, while rivers such as the Río Toltén, Río Allipén, and Río Quepe are close at hand, and the lakes of the Andes foothills — Lago Villarrica, Lago Colico, and Lago Budi among them — lie within reach. The area around Pucón, the whitewater hub of southern Chile, draws paddlers from around the world to rivers ranging from approachable Class II–III runs to serious creek and waterfall descents.