After getting settled into Santiago, I was itching to get back outside to do some hiking. A group of us here talked it over and eventually settled on a hike in a private park on the outskirts of town, to a waterfall called “Salto de Apoquindo”. The park is private, and they have somewhat silly rules about the hiking there. If you are not past certain points at certain times, they won’t let you proceed farther. At face value, this seems reasonable, except the times are very early. They also mandate that you leave the waterfall by 1330. It’s a bit ridiculous being “babysat” like that on a hike. Between the arbitrary start times and the expected warm temperatures, we were off and hiking around 0945.

The trail was dusty and warm. We made reasonable progress up the valley towards the waterfall, stopping on occasion to drink water. We had views down the valley back towards smoggy Santiago.

Image for View of Santiago
Image for A Rest at the Mirrador

And, eventually, up the valley towards the waterfall.

Image for Salto de Apoquindo

We reached the waterfall a little before 1300, giving us a half hour to enjoy it before being kicked out.

Image for Below Salto de Apoquindo

We took a separate trail on the way back, which went down the opposite side of the valley. It featured more wide-open views and more enjoyable hiking, in my opinion.

Overall it was nice to see the waterfall and get out hiking. But the hassling by the park employees to hike faster, and the arbitrary cutoff times made it a bit of a frustrating hike. Accordingly I can’t recommend the area, because of the overbearing nature of the park employees.

More photos of the hike are available in the photo set.