What is The W Trek?

The Basics

The W trek in Torres del Paine is a ~40 mile trek through Parque Nacional Torres del Paine in Chilean Patagonia. The park is named for these ladies:

The trek itself is called the W because you hike the shape of a W! There is an even longer and more difficult trek called the O (looks basically like an O) that incorporates the W. We didn’t do the O, and we only met one group who did. You are definitely not a weenie for doing the W instead of the O. If you want more info on the O, here is a helpful post.

What makes it special?

Torres is a place that’s hard to put into words. Every few miles, we felt like we were in a completely different park. Your morning might start at a cyan lake with views of an enormous snow-capped mountain, take you up a steep valley for an up-close look at a canyoning glacial mountain, continue through a Narnia-like forest of dead trees along a deep blue lake in the middle, and end gazing up at granite cliffs topped with eroded sedimentary stratum. Little of the ~40 mile trek will leave you wanting for a more impressive view.