About the Refugios at Torres del Paine

We’ve stayed at three refugios now so I can share some insights.

Campground at Serón

The refugios are multifunction campgrounds. For folks like us carrying tents, food, sleeping bags and so on it is mainly an allowed space to camp in the very restricted park. But even without any extra add-ons there are a lot of bonus services provided.

So far we’ve had designated indoor rooms where we are supposed to cook. They have all been nice shelters from the cold, wind, and rain. And there’s always good conversation to be had. At Serón it was a large platform tent with fairly limited space. The dish wash and water supply area was attached to the bathrooms and showers. At Dickson and Los Perros we found cozy rooms with water and dishwashing stations right in the room.

Usually near reception are ample charging outlets, which sometimes fill up but it never seems to be a long wait to get access. My tiny Veektomx battery brick has worked very well and I can usually use it to charge my phone and watch and just use the charging station for the brick.

Karen playing cards with new friends

In addition to the indoor areas, there have been picnic tables throughout the camps; some on porches and under shelter. One annoyance is many folks stacking their backpacks on the tables and benches during transitions (showers, checking in) when there’s plenty of space along the walls, rails, etc.

Shelter from the rain at Dickson

At Dickson we truly valued the shelter as there was rain most of the evening through departure the next morning. And some cold wind. Lots of folks drying towels and other gear along the railings.

Campground at Los Perros

The tent setup process has varied a bit. At Serón the guidance was “anywhere in this vast open field”. At Los Perros and Dickson the camp was a bit more contained. At Serón we technically only were supposed to have three tents, but the host cared not if Karen and I setup separate tents. The only other site where that’s a concern is our last night at Chileno. This is platform and much more trafficked (it is part of the W circuit) so I have a feeling Karen and I will share my tent there.

Breaking camp at Dickson

At Dickson we had the luxury of being fairly far away from the crowd, albeit in short hearing distance of the generator.

So far we’ve prepared every meal ourselves but one: last night Karen and I had our first refugio dinner. We were assigned a time (6pm) at check-in and joined about 12 other people for a nice meal. Nothing fancy and I was wishing for more vegetables. I had a can of beer and Karen a glass of wine. For comfortable and great conversation. Because everyone here is on the O trek and moving in the same counter-clockwise direction, we are getting to know many of our hiking mates.