Everything you need to know to hike the 'O' circuit, Torres del Paine

I just came back from hiking the ‘O’ circuit in Torres del Paine National Park, Chile. It is an incredible hike that I highly recommend. When researching and planning for my hike, I found many sites with typical itineraries mostly for the ‘W’ – the shorter, and much more crowded, front side of the park. However, there was a lot of dated and missing information about refugio costs (prices have definitely risen from the material I found online), reservations, and transfers. I wanted to provide a just the facts post with the very latest information (current as of Jan 2016) if you are looking to complete the hike.

Just the facts version Getting to the park: Bus Sur $CLP7000 plus $18000 entrance fee

Day 1: Seron $CLP7500

Day 2: Dickson $CLP8000

Day 3: Los Perros $CLP6000

Day 4: Grey $CLP6000

Day 5: Italiano – free, but make reservations enroute at the ranger station at Paseo. Get there early to make sure there are still campsites available to reserve. Once you get to Italiano, make your reservation for Torres for day 7.

Day 6: Los Cueros $6500 – get there early to get a secluded campsite. Things fill up fast.

Day 7: Torres – free! Get up early for sunrise at the Torres then head down to Los Torres Hotel. There is a 9am shuttle ($CLP2500) back to administration. Must tour buses don’t take passengers back to Puerto Natales until the afternoon (around 14:30), but you can usually talk your way onto one with your return ticket. That’s what I did

The Longer Version

Getting to the park

The easiest way I found is to grab a bus from Puerto Natales. I selected Bus Sur which offered a roundtrip ticket to/from the park for $CLP7000. All the bus companies are pretty similar with schedule and price. Trip to the park takes 2-3 hrs. Buy your ticket the day before as buses leave around 7am from the terminal.

Day 1: Administration – Seron

Once you have paid your park entry fees ($CLP18000), you will be advised to reserve free camp sites at Italiano and Torres. This is a brand new requirement from the past 6 months. Don’t worry about doing it now though. You will be stuck in a long line of hikers doing the W, who generally have little idea on what and where they are planning to stay. In short, its a mess. Avoid making your reservations here, and give yourself some flexibility in your schedule. I’ll give advice further below on when you can make your reservations closer to when you need it.

First glimpse of the Torres from the hike to Seron

With the administration tasks done, it’s time to hike. Grab your pack and walk directly out of the offices taking a straight line up the dirt road past the toilets on your right. You should be heading towards a small bridge along the road to Los Torres hotel. Shortly after the bridge look for the sign directing you to Serron. After about 4-5hrs you will arrive at Seron camp. No reservations are necessary. Just pay $CLP7500 and relax. I was surprised they had warm showers and a small store there.

Day 2: Seron – Dickson

Head out along the fence towards Dickson, probably one of the most beautiful camp sites I have ever seen. Once you climb the rise, you will know what I mean. This picture really doesn’t do it justice. Arrive into camp, pay your $CLP8000 fee and set up camp. There are no showers, but a small shop.

The awe inspiring first glimpse of Dickson

The house may be small, but the view is to die for

Day 3: Dickson to Los Perros

This is pretty short day to set you up for an early ascent of the John Gardner Pass, but one of the most scenic days hiking through lush mountain forests with spectacular views, including a close up of the glaciers. You should arrive into camp around 1pm. I considered doing the pass the same day but was advised that the wind really picks up in the afternoon. I set up camp and then hiked back to the glacier to relax. Los Perros isn’t the nicest camp to hang around in. No showers or store, plus a pretty pricey $CLP6000 to camp. Overall I was really surprised at camping costs for the backside camps. This has definitely changed in recent times. It doesn’t feel as remote as it once did, but once you hit the frontside and ‘W’, you will really miss the quieter camps.

river cross in the mountain forests

This is what backpacking should be

Views don't get much better than this

Day 4: Los Perros to Lago Grey

Today is a double day. Head out early for the best weather across the pass. I left at 6am, and had perfect weather. Plus, I didn’t see a soul for the next 4 hours. Leaving early also means you make to the next camp site Paso mid morning (friendly note: the descent from the pass is pretty hard on your knees! Take some extra time here). Paso is a free campsite, but I would recommend continuing on for another 4 hours to Lago Grey. The hike between Paso and Grey is simply spectacular; the glacier stretches to your right, you cross some amazing suspension bridges, and are constantly treated with snow capped peaks. It was my favorite leg of the trek. Arrive into Grey – and the throngs of people setting tents for their first night on the W (ego: they smell much better than you after 4 days of not showering). Pay your $6000 and grab a camping spot in the trees if you can. Grey gets pretty windy at night.

One of two amazing suspension bridges

Day 5: Lago Grey to Italiano

Another double day, but pretty easy. Leave early and out of Grey and arrive in Paseo mid morning. You want to arrive early and immediately drop into the ranger station to make your reservations for Italiano the same night. They fill up by lunch time. Once you have made your reservations for Italiano, take your time in Paseo, maybe even wait until 12:00-12:30 for the restaurant to open and buy yourself a nice hot lunch. The hike to Italiano is only about 1.5 – 2.0 hours, and Italiano, whilst being a nice camp site, its not the best to hang out in for too long. Camping in Italiano is free, but you need to have made your reservations.

2 mins from Italiano

Day 6: Los Cueros

Pack up your gear and leave it near the ranger station at Italiano (don’t forget to put the rain cover over it just in case!), then grab a day pack and head up to mirador Britannica. Many people stop at the first mirador, which I have to say is probably more scenic than Britannica, but come on – you can do it and make it all the way to Britannica. Once you’ve taken some pics, head back down to Italiano, pick up your gear and head to Los Cueros. Whilst it doesn’t look like you are doing much distance today (Los Cueros is only 2 hours from Italiano), you end up doing about 12-14km with the trip to Britannica – most of which is a gentle uphill ascent.

If you can arrive at Los Cueros early afternoon you have a good chance of getting one of the secluded campsites with impressive views out across the lake. I arrived at 1pm, set up my sleeping pad like a chair using a large rock as the back and read a book for hours enjoying the sun. Los Ceuros is a beautiful campsite as long as you get one of the secluded campsites, otherwise it is very crowded with hikers coming from both directions of the trail.

Day 7: Torres

Head to Torres camp, taking the shortcut to Chileano (look for the signs along the trail to Los Torres Hotel, you can’t really miss them). Grab a quick snack at Chileano before continuing another hour to Torres. Check in with the ranger at Torres before setting up your camp. The famous Torres mirador is a pretty strenuous 45min ascent from camp. I decided to go straight up once I had set up camp – I knew if I relaxed, I wouldn’t be motivated to go up in the afternoon. Plus, I wanted to scope out locations for the best photos for tomorrow morning. My plan was to summit on day 8 for sunrise, but hey, this way I get to see the Torres twice. Camping at Torres is free but you need you have made your reservation in advance.

Day 8: Back to Puerto Natales

There are so many great shots of the sunrise at the Torres. I definitely planned to take my share, but I wanted to get some shots of the Torres with the stars above for something different. The evening on day 7, I packed my daypack with my stove, my last packet of hot chocolate and a pack of ramen. I started my ascent, headlamp blazing, at about 3:30 and was at the top by just past 4:00am. I was greated with a beautiful clear sky (good for stars, bad for sunrise…oh well). I setup my camera and tripod on the spot I scoped out yesterday and took a bunch of photos before making breakfast and drinking my hot chocolate.

Torres at 4:30am

Due to how south Torres del Paine is, sunrise takes a while and I was glad I brought my breakfast to warm me up. By 5:20am, dawn had arrived, but the sun and colors don’t really crest until about 6am. I took a bunch more photos as the light painted the torres, before heading back down to camp. I packed up my gear and headed down to Hotel Los Torres. I arrived by 8:30am in time to catch the shuttle bus ($CL2500) back to the park entrance.

Torres at 6am

Most tour buses don’t take passengers until the afternoon. My bus itinerary said my bus was at 14:30, but I knew the tour buses dropped off their passengers around 10am. After approaching a few of the drivers, I convinced one of them to let me ride back to Puerto Natales. I was back in town by about 13:00, happy and ready for a shower and food!