The largest national park in Chile is Bernardo O'Higgins, with 3,525,901 hectares, spanning the Aysén and Magallanes regions: on its own it accounts for 26% of the area of the country's 46 land-based national parks, which together cover 13.4 million hectares. It is followed by Kawésqar (2.8 million) and Laguna San Rafael (1.7 million), according to the National Registry of Protected Areas of the Ministry of the Environment (SIMBIO).
*Updated on 23 October 2026.* The ten largest account for 85% of the area of Chile's land-based national parks. The most famous, Torres del Paine, only appears in 12th place.
Ranking of the largest national parks in Chile
| # | National park | Region | Area (ha) | Protected since |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Bernardo O'Higgins | Aysén and Magallanes | 3,525,901 | 1969 |
| 2 | Kawésqar | Magallanes | 2,842,329 | 2019 |
| 3 | Laguna San Rafael | Aysén | 1,742,000 | 1959 |
| 4 | Alberto de Agostini | Magallanes | 1,460,000 | 1965 |
| 5 | Pumalín Douglas Tompkins | Los Lagos | 402,392 | 2018 |
| 6 | Corcovado | Los Lagos | 400,011 | 2005 |
| 7 | Patagonia | Aysén | 304,528 | 2018 |
| 8 | Llullaillaco | Antofagasta | 268,671 | 1995 |
| 9 | Vicente Pérez Rosales | Los Lagos | 253,780 | 1926 |
| 10 | Isla Magdalena | Aysén | 249,712 | 1967 |
Source: Chilean Ministry of the Environment, National Registry of Protected Areas (protected areas layer of the SIMBIO viewer), "area by decree" field, checked on 23 October 2026. Marine parks are excluded. Isla Magdalena National Park is in Aysén and should not be confused with Los Pingüinos Natural Monument, on Magdalena Island in the Strait of Magellan.
From 11th to 20th: where Torres del Paine and the northern parks stand
| # | National park | Area (ha) |
|---|---|---|
| 11 | Volcán Isluga | 174,744 |
| 12 | Torres del Paine | 170,974 |
| 13 | Queulat | 154,093 |
| 14 | Yendegaia | 150,587 |
| 15 | Cerro Castillo | 143,502 |
| 16 | Lauca | 137,883 |
| 17 | Salar del Huasco | 110,049 |
| 18 | Melimoyu | 105,500 |
| 19 | Puyehue | 102,522 |
| 20 | Glaciares de Santiago | 75,115 |
Source: SIMBIO, area by decree. If Cabo Froward National Park is created with the proposed 183,045 hectares, it would rank 11th, right after Isla Magdalena; we explain it in our story on Cape Froward in National Geographic's list.
Why Chile's largest national parks are in Patagonia
Seven of the ten largest are in Aysén, Magallanes and Los Lagos, where the State protected fjords, ice fields and forests with almost no population. Bernardo O'Higgins includes much of the Southern Patagonian Ice Field and glaciers such as Pío XI, one of the largest glaciers in Chile according to the DGA inventory. Pumalín and Patagonia were created in 2018 from land donated by the Tompkins Conservation foundation, which also gave rise to the Route of Parks of Patagonia.
In the north, the only one in the top 10 is Llullaillaco, in the Antofagasta Region, which protects the volcano of the same name, one of Chile's natural records.
The largest national parks versus the most visited
Size and visitor numbers do not go hand in hand. The giant parks of the south are hard to reach and receive few people, while the most visited are those close to cities or main roads, such as Vicente Pérez Rosales or Torres del Paine. The details are in our ranking of Chile's most visited national parks, based on Conaf's official spreadsheet.
| Indicator | Figure |
|---|---|
| National parks in the SIMBIO registry | 57, of which 11 are marine parks |
| Land-based national parks | 46, with 13,449,770 ha of area by decree |
| The largest | Bernardo O'Higgins, 3,525,901 ha |
| The smallest | Nonguén (Biobío), 3,037 ha |
| The oldest in the top 10 | Vicente Pérez Rosales, protected since 1926 |
| Largest marine park | Nazca-Desventuradas, 30,003,500 ha |
Source: Viajando Chile calculation using the SIMBIO registry of the Ministry of the Environment, 23 October 2026. The area by decree may differ from the mapped area: for Bernardo O'Higgins, the registry also gives 3,906,127 ha of official IDE (spatial data) area.
Ranking methodology
- Source: "Protected Areas" layer of the National Registry of Protected Areas (SIMBIO), a public service of the Ministry of the Environment, filtered by the "National Park" designation.
- Variable: area by decree, in hectares.
- Exclusions: 11 marine parks (Nazca-Desventuradas, Mar de Juan Fernández, Motu Motiro Hiva, Islas Diego Ramírez y Paso Drake, Montes Submarinos Crusoe y Selkirk, Tictoc-Golfo Corcovado, Francisco Coloane and four small parks in Juan Fernández).
- Updates: the ranking is updated on this same page when a park is created or modified.
How to cite this data
Viajando Chile (2026). *Chile's 10 largest national parks in 2026, according to the official registry*. With data from the National Registry of Protected Areas of the Chilean Ministry of the Environment. https://viajandochile.com/en/news/largest-national-parks-in-chile-ranking
Frequently asked questions
What is the largest national park in Chile?
Bernardo O'Higgins, with 3,525,901 hectares of area by decree, between Aysén and Magallanes.
How many national parks does Chile have?
The SIMBIO registry of the Ministry of the Environment lists 57 with the national park designation: 46 on land and 11 marine.
Where does Torres del Paine rank by size?
12th, with 170,974 hectares.
