Lauca National Park is the northernmost national park in Chile and one of the most spectacular. It covers nearly 138,000 hectares of Central Andean dry puna, high altitude lakes, wetlands and mountains along the Bolivia border and above the small town of Putre, and is easily reached from Arica (the International Highway 11 to Bolivia passes through the Park). The Park is best known for its spectacular mountain views, in particular of the Parinacota (6330m / 20,675ft) and Pomerape (6282m / 20,610ft) volcanos which are collectively known as the Payachatas ("twin" in the Aymara language). Together with the Las Vicuñas National Reserve and Salar de Surire National Monument to the south it forms the Lauca Biosphere Reserve, recognised by UNESCO in 1981. UNESCO expanded the Biosphere Reserve in September 2021 to 1,026,567 hectares; as a result it now covers most of the Andean and pre-cordillera areas of Region VX.
