2 Best Sights in Lago Ranco and Nearby, The Lake District

A private nature preserve about 40 km from Futrono, the 13,500-hectare Futangue Nature Park has a fantastic variety of outdoor recreational activities to offer. There is a network of more than 100 km of trails for hiking and mountain biking through lush, Valdivian temperate rain forest. The scenery is breathtaking, and always unique: sometimes you are deep in virgin forest then occasionally find yourself among rock formations so visually unusual as to seem extraterrestrial. Views of mountains and volcanoes peak around the corner. Hike about three to four hours in and there are natural hot springs. Kayakers and fly fishermen can spend countless hours on one of the several lakes or rivers. There are also opportunities for horseback riding. From May to October you must reserve your park entrance ticket ahead of time on their website, where you can also book a variety of excursions with bilingual guides. There is no camping permitted, but they have a highly regarded upscale lodge with 16 rooms, fine dining restaurant, pool and sauna room (two-night minimum, 550,000 pesos). 

Some 20% of Chile's 1.4 million indigenous Mapuche live on reducciones, or reservations. One of the most welcoming communities is this settlement of Mapuche and Huilliches on Isla Huapi, a leafy island in the middle of deep-blue Lago Ranco. A boat departs from Futrono, on the northern shore of the lake, at 7:30 am every day except Thursday, returning at 4 pm. The pastoral quiet of Isla Huapi is broken once a year in January or February with the convening of the island council, in conjunction with the Lepún harvest festival. You are welcome during the festival, but be courteous and unobtrusive with your camera.