Torres del Paine

Three granite towers rising from the Patagonian steppe/Mountains

The Torres del Paine are a cluster of three distinctive granite peaks in the Torres del Paine National Park in Chilean Patagonia. The three towers, from south to north, are Torre Sur (2,850 m), Torre Central (2,800 m), and Torre Norte (2,600 m). They are the eroded remnants of a laccolith, a mass of igneous rock that intruded into older sedimentary layers roughly 12 million years ago. Glacial erosion during the ice ages carved the towers into their current dramatic form, with sheer faces rising over 1,000 meters above the surrounding terrain. The national park surrounding them covers about 2,420 square kilometers and is home to guanacos, pumas, and Andean condors. The W Trek, one of the most famous hiking routes in South America, passes directly beneath the towers.