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Chile - Trail Rides
Estancia to Estancia - Spectacular Trail Rides

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Horse Riding Holidays Chile – Patagonia Trails, Estancia to Estancia

PRICES & DATES top

Patagonia Trail Ride, Estancia to Estancia: Prices 2023

To be confirmed. The 2023/2024 season kicks off in October 2023 and we will update information as soon as we receive it.

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Rates are quoted per person sharing.

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    small group supplement 4 – 5 riders

Patagonia Trail Ride, Estancia to Estancia: Dates 2023

TBC

Shorter 5 day rides are available plus private group rides on request

Note: Rates are subject to daily exchange rate fluctuations, please refer to our ‘Terms & Conditions’ for full details.

Included – All horse riding, accommodation, meals, drinks, wine with meals and entrance fees to park.

Excluded – Flights, airport taxes, transfers, meals & drinks outside camping.

Getting There
International flights to Santiago, followed by an internal flight to Punta Arenas.

Transfer
There is a very good bus service to Puerto Natales from Punta Arenas or we can easily arrange a private transfer to pick you up at the airport.

All our horse riding holidays hold a price guarantee. We believe in your piece of mind on price when you book one of our horse riding holidays and will refund the difference should you find the same horse riding holiday elsewhere at a lower price.

SUMMARY OF THE TRIP top

The ‘Glacier Riders’ as they like to call themselves, often keep in touch with each other years after their riding adventure – there’s something unforgettable about the shared experiences enjoyed on this ride with riding group reunions cropping up all over the world!

Trip Highlights from the Patagonia Trail Ride

  • Ride up through the snowline on top of the Sierra del Toro with stunning views of the park below
  • Enjoy mate (matay) with local baqueanos at remote and rustic gaucho huts
  • Let your hair down with some exhilarating and never-ending canters across wide open pampas
  • Visit the largest and most spectacular glacier in the park – Grey Glacier and watch icebergs floating regally in the frigid grey waters
  • Take an optional boat ride for an up close and personal view of this immense wall of ice
  • Marvel at the immensity of the Condor’s wing span as he hovers overhead
  • Photograph spectacular granite monoliths and turquoise blue lakes
  • Sit and marvel at the wonders of nature with a picnic lunch overlooking one of the least visited glaciers in the area – Dickson Glacier
  • Ride up to a beautiful remote vega or natural pasture where you are likely to spot large wild herds of Criollos grazing
  • Relax and enjoy the tranquil surroundings
  • Enjoy spectacular sunsets
  • Photograph guanacos and nandus from the back of your horse

Estancia to Estancia Trail

The ride kicks off with a boat trip through Last Hope Sound and into the national park pf Torres del Paine. Riding local Criollo horses, you follow an almost circular route through the park. There’s slow riding on the mountain paths and fast riding across the open pampas, each turn of the trail affords a more breath-taking vista than the last. Weather permitting, you get to see the impressive Torres from both the south and the north side of the massif.

Riders will experience a first hand view of Patagonian estancia life, which includes the joys, threats and difficulties posed by farming sheep and cattle in the area. The route offers plenty of diversity with rides across open pampas, rides to wild glaciers and iceberg filled lakes and peaceful rides through valleys and ancient beech forests. Throughout these long days in the saddle, the snow-capped mountains are never far behind.

THE RIDING top

Horses on the Patagonia Trail Rides – Criollo Crosses, which vary in size with the majority being between 14hh -15.2 hh. They are strong, fit, willing and sure-footed. There are horses for both experienced riders and rusty riders.

Level of Riding & Pace on the Patagonia Trail Rides – Intermediate to Advanced. A good level of fitness is required as you will be in the saddle for long hours.

Tack – The tack is Chilean and comfortable and comprises of metal framed saddles onto which is layered felt, sheepskin and leather. Rope, rawhide and leather form the bridles, girths and straps.

Weight Restriction on the Patagonia Trail Rides – 14 Stone / 90 kg / 198 lbs.

Group Size for the Patagonia Trail Rides – Maximum 12.

ACCOMMODATION top

Estancia to Estancia
You will stay in a mix of hosterias and working or converted estancias. The latter offers a family stay environment which is not luxurious but is clean, comfortable and welcoming. All of them are beautifully located with good views. Cattle and sheep are often farmed and horses may be seen in their working environment.

In the converted estancias and hosterias the accommodation is comfortable twin or triple rooms with en suite facilities.

If you require single accommodation there is an extra charge, but we can't guarantee single accommodation in the 'homestay' accommodation due to their size.

On the Patagonia Trail Rides you can expect really good food throughout, with fresh salads, bread and bbq meat, accompanied with plenty of good Chilean wine.

Horse Riding Holidays on the Patagonia Trail Rides are part of the collection of Zara’s Planet Horse Riding Holidays Chile.

Please Ask About

  • In addition to all the riding adventures in Chile, we can also arrange multi-activity programmes which combine Horseriding, Walking, Kayaking,Yoga, Fishing and Photography
  • Plus a variety of other adventures like Wine tours in Santiago, Hiking in Agentina and Sightseeing in Buenos Aires
  • Whale, dolphin & penguin watching

SAMPLE ITINERARY top

Please note that the itineraries may change depending on the weather at the time and other local conditions.

Estancia to Estancia Sample Itinerary

DAY 1

Arrive Punta Arenas (or Puerto Natales). Transfer from Punta Arenas (or Puerto Natales) airport to hostel in Puerto Natales. Dinner and briefing. Night in Hostal El Establo. Arrive into Punta Arenas. Transfer from Punta Arenas airport to Puerto Natales at 15:00. Arrival in Puerto Natales at approximately 17:30. In the evening clients will be escorted to dinner by their guide for the trip briefing. Night in Hostal El Establo. Dinner included with wine.

DAY 2

Transfer to pier in Natales. Take boat to Balmaceda. 2 hour introduction ride. Night Hostería Balmaceda. In the morning clients will leave and take a transfer of approximately 10 minutes to the pier in Puerto Natales. They will take the boat for a great ride up the Last Hope Sound (4 hours). Guests will enter the Bernardo O’Higgins National Park. Shared by the regions of Magallanes and Aysen, this is the largest National Park in Chile and one of five of the most expansive in the world (over three million hectares). With access only via the water, the mountains or the southern ice field itself, it remains a remote and pristine corner of our planet. It also contains the third largest mass of ice on earth after Antarctica and Greenland, so the climate is understandably extreme. We will disembark our boat here and enjoy the stunning views which combine old growth forests of evergreen and deciduous southern beech, fire bushes and cypresses - a stunning contrast to the snow capped peaks and glaciers in this region. We will walk to the Serrano glcier, approximately 1 hour round trip. Then we will take a short, 5 minute, zodiac boat ride to where we will meet our horses and have some lunch before an introductory 2-hour ride along a trail through forests passing pristine rivers and streams in the shadow of the Chacabuco and Balmaceda range of mountains. Dinner and night in Hostería Balmaceda. All meals included. (Wine/drinks not included).

DAY 3

Ride from Balmaceda to Rio Serrano. Night Hotel del Paine. After breakfast, guests will say goodbye to Hostería Balmaceda and start a fairly slow, but long ride today which gives us the opportunity to find our riding stride while enjoying the dazzling scenery on our route into the Torres del Paine National Park. Towards the end of the trail, we will cross the Nutria river and come out onto the pampas which marks the end of today’s ride, as we approach our hotel for the night, Hotel del Paine. This hotel offers comfortable rooms and great views of the Paine Massif. A large living/dining area with a log fire and a comfortable bar and good restaurant. For early risers, it also offers some of the best sunrises in all of Patagonia! All meals included. (Wine/drinks not included). Hours in the saddle approximately 6-7.

DAY 4

Ride to Grey Glacier and Lake. Optional boat trip. Ride back to Rio Serrano. Night in Hotel del Paine. After breakfast we will meet our horses and preparing for the pampas ride to Lago Grey. Our view will be dominated by the jagged peaks of the Paine massif as we ride out along the Rio Grey to the largest glacier in the park, Glacier Grey. On reaching the trailhead we will tether our horses and walk out across the swinging footbridge through the forest to Grey beach. The view that greets us is memorable - the pebbly shores of the beach form an almost surreal contrast to the blue of the floating icebergs that have calved off the nearby glacier. Glacier Grey protrudes off the southern ice field and is quite simply a wonder of nature. Measuring 28km in length and covering a total area of 270 square km with its frozen walls of blue ice towering almost 35 metres high, it never ceased to impress. After some time walking along the beach and enjoying our picnic lunch, we will walk back to our waiting horses for the ride back to Rio Serrano. * Note The Glacier itself is 17 kilometers from the the Grey beach, so for those who would like to get up closer to the face of this marvel of ice, we can arrange a trip out onto the lake in the Grey III boat. This is an optional excursion available at the cost of approximately US$140 per person. Those guests who take the excursion will return to the hotel by transfer not by horse. Clients should make the reservation for this boat trip at the point of confirming the ride. Return to Hotel del Paine for the night. All meals included. (excluding wine/drinks).

DAY 5

Ride the up and over across the heart of the park to Laguna Amarga. Night Tiny House Laguna Amarga. After breakfast in the hotel we will pack up and start our ride eastwards towards the heart of the park. We will now be riding directly towards the Paine Massif mountain range so the views are dramatic and beautiful. Our trail skirts the southern edge of the mountains on a rarely trodden path as we pass azure and turquiose lakes with the huge granite mountain peaks standing behind. After a picnic lunch taken in one of the pretty valleys we will continue east onto the beautiful soft pampas of the Patagonian steppe. Here we will have a chance for some cantering as the light fades and the shadows lengthen until we arrive at Laguna Amarga where we will find our charming, but modern tiny houses! All meals included (excluding wine/drinks).

DAY 6

Ride out to Laguna Amarga and Salto Las Chinas and onto the pampa at Estancia Gemita. Night Estancia Tercera Barranca. Ride from Laguna Amarga to the North-East, via the Laguna Amarga where hopefully you will see the flamingoes that usually reside in this lake. Here, there are uperb views of the lake with the towers in the background. The area is full of guanacos and the hills ring with their alarm calls as you ride by. There will be chances for canters until reaching the dramatic Las Chinas waterfall where you stop for lunch. After lunch cross Las Chinas river and on to Estancia Tercera Baranca. Night at Estancia Tercera Barranca. All meals included. (excluding wine/drinks).

DAY 7

Drive Estancia Cerro Guido. Ride from the Estancia and into the surrounding mountains. Return to Estancia Cerro Guido via the Indian burial site, ‘Chenke’ Tehuelche for Cemetary. Today we will hop into the van and take a 20 minute transfer to Estancia Cerro Guido. A large working estancia with aproximately 110,000 hectares, 37,000 sheep, 2,500 cattle and 400 horses. After checking in to our rooms, we will meet our new horses. From the estancia stables we will make our way up the mountain side behind the estancia and into the surrounding hills. The Sierra Baguales mountians are a stark contrast beside the rolling landscape of the pampas below. After lunch we will continue to the Indian burial site, although no artifacts remain at the site, later, in the estancia you will be able to see photos of the site and also learn about the burial site. After our ride, we will return to the estancia for a welcome dinner and our comfortable beds. All meals included (excluding wine/drinks).

DAY 8

Ride south across the pampas to Condor Cliff. Return to Cerro Guido. Today after breakfast, riders will once again be saddling up for a full day’s ride. This time, we will be heading south to Estancia Entro lagos. This is a beautiful open ride across grassy meadows and welcoming pampas. Riding south with the dramatic Paine mountains to our right enables us to fully appreciate the distances that the original pioneers encountered and which the estancieros still encounter to this day. There will also be opportunities for lots of canters on your responsive and comfortable horses. With the wind in your hair and a smile on your face you will experience the sheer joy that is riding in Patagonia! During the afternoon after a leisurely picnic lunch and an afternoon’s riding we will see the blue waters of Lake Sarmiento and have some time to photograph the Torres del Paine mountains from the lake’s edge. After, we will ride back, via Flamingo Lake, to Estancia Cerro Guido. The comfortable estancia is a place where you will feel warm and at home. The huge roaring fire and big soft sofas will invite you to relax and reflect on your holiday experiences so far. All meals included (excluding wine/drinks).

DAY 9

Ride to the deserted Flower Estancia ‘Las Flores’, and into the Sierra Balguales mountains. Ride back to Cerro Guido for the last night. After breakfast we find our horses, check our saddles and begin our last, full day of riding, to the Sierra Baguales mountain range. Today will give you a view of the vast glacial valleys carved by the glaciers thousands of years ago. You will be mesmerised by the huge skies and long stretches of pampas. We will start by traversing the mountain behind Cerro Guido, along the track called ‘Paso Guitarra’. Then we will pass the lovely, but deserted, Estancia Las Flores where you will see the only original adobe building left in the area. By lunch time we will let the horses rest and we will have a nice picnic in the middle of the valley where we may be able to see condors soaring above us. After these lovely views we are ready to continue on to Vega Nash where there will be opportunities to canter and enjoy this large flat ‘vega’, a typical pampa in this area. This will bring us back to Estancia Cerro Guido, where a delicious Patagonian asado dinner will be cooking and we can enjoy our last night together. All meals included (including wine tonight).

DAY 10

Transfer to Puerto Natales. Transfer to Punta Arenas airport leaves Puerto Natales at 10:00. Arrival at Punta Arenas airport at 12:30 approximately. Tour ends. Onward journey.

DESTINATION MAP top

Zara’s Planet Horse Riding Holidays Guarantee:

All our horse riding holidays hold a price guarantee. We believe in your piece of mind on price when you book one of our horse riding holidays and will refund the difference should you find the same horse riding holiday elsewhere at a lower price.

If you are having trouble finding exactly the right horse riding holiday for you from our horse riding holidays collection, please contact us directly using the form below and tell us in your own words what you would like to do and we will use our extensive knowledge to make sure we find that perfect horse riding holiday.

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