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Pan de Azúcar National Park is 30 km away. northwest of Chañaral. Its creation dates from 1985, comprising a total area of ​​43,769 hectares.



The coastal area it comprises is situated between the Peralillo and La Cachina streams and the Pan de Azúcar Island. The flora of the National Park is characterized by being adapted to the lack of water, highlighting the cacti and in the Caleta de Pan de Azúcar area, a unique, semi-desert vegetation fed by the camanchaca.



In the Sierra de Vicuña Mackenna there is great diversity in terms of flora: coralillo, hualputilla, jarilla, crown of friar and añañucas. In this sector, the well-known phenomenon of the Flowering Desert occurs, this when the rains increase and the general climatic conditions allow it.



The fauna that inhabits the place is represented by marine animals, among which the chunchungo or sea otter and the wolf with a hair stand out. On the coast, there are many species of birds such as, for example, gulls, terns, pelicans, cormorants, swallows, blind fowl, red-headed jote, common harrier, plovers and the remarkable Humboldt penguin. In other sectors of greater vegetation guanacos and fox chilla and culpeo can be seen.



The southern entrance to the Pan de Azúcar National Park is located 18 kilometers north of the city of Chañaral. To access its protected area, you only have to continue along the Pan-American route, without having to enter the urban core of the city, turning to the coast at the monumental statue of a guanaco, a typical animal of the area.

From there, a well-traced route begins that borders the coast, built from a stabilization made with salt, it presents good conditions suitable for all types of vehicle.





There are several places of observation, such as: the mouth of the Quebrada Castillo where you can see the globose cactus and guanacos; another is the Las Lomitas trail, where you can see the differences in flora between sea level and 700 meters of altitude and, finally, the Pan de Azúcar Island, which is the main colony of Humboldt Penguins.



In the area that makes up the Pan de Azúcar National Park, you will find various vestiges of pre-Columbian cultures, of the hunting, gathering and fishing peoples that inhabited the area.

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