Park Ancol is a forest reserve, established in 1989. It is 32 kilometres North-West of the city of Valdivia, region de Los Rios Chile. It is a place of amazing beauty, located between the Pacific ocean and the nature reserve of Rio Cruces, and just 5 km from the coast.
This Park, with an area of 754 hectares, the greater part is situated on the hill of the same name. Hill Oncol is the highest point (715 m above sea level) in the Cordillera de La Costa in the province of Valdivia, which is of great importance, as the high places of the Cordillera de La Costa were not affected by glaciation and the forest remained intact, when the Central valley and the Andes mountains were covered with ice.
A feature of the Park Ancol is its lush waldowski forest preserved in its original form – a tropical rain forest in a temperate zone. Such forest can still be seen in New Zealand, but there are none in the Northern hemisphere.
In the forest, there is a great variety of evergreen cypress, 28 species of ferns and mosses, 7 species of orchids, cinnamon and podocarpus, and fauna you can see the Darwin's frog, the black woodpecker and a variety of endemic amphibians.
On the South side of the hill Oncol located reserve Carlos Anwandter (Anwandter).
The Park has areas for camping and picnicking. In addition, equipped with four deck view in the tops of the trees, two of which are in the path of the route with panoramic views of the city of Valdivia, wetlands, and beaches. From here you can see eleven volcanoes, including Kilauea volcano Llaima (3215 m), the volcano Osorno (2652 m) and the volcano Cerro the tronador (3554 m), which is on the border of Chile and Argentina.
Walks are conducted by guides in the framework of the program of ecological education of tourists. The Park has a specially designed trail, which leads out to the coast in Pictwin in the sector without vehicle access, where it is still possible to get only by sea. In this junction of ocean and pristine forests that have remained untouched for thousands of years, on the shore you can observe dolphins and blue whales during the migration, and you can also see penguins, otters and cormorants, which nest on the coastal slopes.
The Park is in the ownership of companies Forestal Valdivia" and "Celulosa Arauco y Constitución", and is open for visits all year round.
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