Huerquehue National Park is only 33km / 20 miles east of Pucon in the La Araucanía region and covers 12,500 hectares. It lies in the Valdivian temperate rainforest ecoregion and is best known for its large areas of ancient Araucaria (Araucaria araucana) or monkey puzzle forests. The Park also contains many mountain lakes and has superb views of nearby volcanos. The origins of the Park date back to 1912 and the creation of the Benjamín Vicuña Mackenna Park, which covered 265,000 hectares. That Park has since been divided into several parks and reserves, of which Huerquehue (which was officially created on June 9, 1967) in one.
