Torres del Paine National Park, Chile:

Torres del Paine National Park is a national park encompassing mountains, glaciers, lakes, and rivers in southern Chilean Patagonia. The Cordillera del Paine is the centerpiece of the park. It lies in a transition area between the Magellanic subpolar forests and the Patagonian Steppes. The park is located 112 km north of Puerto Natales and 312 km north of Punta Arenas. The park borders Bernardo O'Higgins National Park to the west and the Los Glaciares National Park to the north in Argentine territory.Torres del Paine National Park is part of the Sistema Nacional de Áreas Silvestres Protegidas del Estado de Chile. In 2006, it measured approximately 242,242 hectares. It is one of the largest and most visited parks in Chile. The park averages around 150,000 visitors a year, of which 60% are foreign tourists,who come from all over the world.The park is one of the 11 protected areas of the Magallanes Region and Chilean Antarctica. Together, the protected forested areas comprise about 51% of the land of the region.The Torres del Paine are the peaks of the mountain range, Cerro Paine. They extend 3,050 meters above sea level, and are joined by the Cuernos del Paine. The area also boasts valleys, rivers such as the Paine, lakes, and glaciers. The well-known lakes include Grey, Pehoé, Nordenskiöld, and Sarmiento. The glaciers, including Grey, Pingo, Tyndall, and Geikie, belong to the Southern Patagonia Ice Field.Lady Florence Dixie, in her book published in 1880, gave one of the first descriptions of the area and referred to the three towers as Cleopatra's Needles.She and her party are sometimes credited as being the first "foreign tourists" to visit the area that is now called Torres del Paine National Park.Several European scientists and explorers visited the area in the following decades, including Otto Nordenskiöld, Carl Skottsberg, and Alberto María de Agostini.Gunther Plüschow was the first person to fly over the Paine massif.The park was established in 1959 as Parque Nacional de Turismo Lago Grey and was given its present name in 1970.In 1976, British mountaineer John Garner and two Torres del Paine rangers, Pepe Alarcon, and Oscar Guineo pioneered the Circuit trail which circles the Paine massif.In 1977, Guido Monzino donated 12,000 hectares to the Chilean Government when its definitive limits were established.The park was designated a World Biosphere Reserve by UNESCO in 1978.

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