Carretera Austral
-41.465113303889, -72.936506177128
Chile
* A part of the "Patagonia Loop", one of The 7 Wonders of the Motorcycle Travel World as decided by the crew of the Adventure Rider Radio RAW Podcast *
You might consider adding Ruta 40 through Argentina as a part of the full "Patagonia Loop".
Signed as CH-7 through Chile, the Carretera Austral is 1240 km (770 mi) long, running from its northernmost point in Puerto Montt, passing through beautiful Patagonia, and onward south to Villa O'Higgens. Since it was built during a military dictatorship through the 1970s, it may still bear the unofficial name of the Augusto Pinochet Highway. The Carretera Austral is strategically significant because it represents the tremendous and admirable efforts of the Chilean Army's Engineering Command to build access to this area of thick forests, fjords, glaciers, canals, and otherwise very mountainous terrain. The highway opened to traffic in 1988; was completed to Puerto Yungay by 1996; and the final 100 km (62 mi) to Villa O'Higgens opened in 2000.
GPX and KML files from the GaiaGPS plot below.
