Top Things to Do in Chico

A half-loop of Nahuel Huapi's glacial shore threads stone-and-timber lodges, lenga forest, and Cerro Catedral's granite fangs. You'll smell roadside parrillas, hear Mapuche drums at Playa Serena, taste wild-calafate jam.

Smaller-group run, longer pause at Punto Panorámico. Wind funnels through Llao Llao pines while chocolate-cream facturas steam in the guide's hand.

After the classic loop, a silent chairlift climbs 1,050 m. The lake fans into a five-fingered fjord. Condors ride eye-level thermals.

Lake Shasta Caverns National Natural Landmark

Catamaran across the unnaturally blue McCloud arm, bus up 800 ft, enter a 250-million-year-old marble cave. Flowstones gleam like wet porcelain. Footsteps echo like drums.

Upper Bidwell Park

Past the diversion dam, pavement ends. Volcanic bluffs, fennel-scented swimming holes, oak leaves rattling like yesterday's news.

Caper Acres

Story-book playground: rope bridges, pine-needle carpet, hobbit holes big enough for parents.

DeGarmo Park

Sycamore shade, barbecue smoke, sneakers squeaking on the new futsal court.

Community Park

Little League bleachers crackle with sunflower-seed shells; Swainson's hawks circle, hunting frogs in the ditch.

Hooker Oak Park

One valley oak, 110 ft wide, shaded 19th-century cattle drives. The lowest limb still holds a creaky rope swing.

Five Mile Recreation Area

Locals tube the creek's last slow stretch. Water tastes of moss and silt. Cattle egrets strut the far bank like they own it.