Location: Araucanía Region and Los Ríos Region Map
Area: 120.6 km²
Calafquen Lake is a beautiful mountainous lake in Araucanía
Region and Los Ríos Region of Chile. Calafquen Lake surface area is
120.6 sq km. Calafquén Lake in a native Mapudungun tongue can be
translated as "Lake like a sea". It stands on the border between the
La Araucanía Region and Los Ríos Region. It is one of the Seven
Lakes and forms part of the drainage basin of the Valdivia River.
The Villarrica Volcano is situated in the vicinity, north of the
lake.
The coasts of the western sector are rocky, clayey,
covered with vegetation and with formation of sandy beaches in the
bottoms of the inlet. In the northeastern and eastern sectors, the
coast is low, easily accessible, rocky and with volcanic sand. The
water is blue-green, transparent, with temperatures of 9.6 ° C in
winter and 22 ° C in summer. It has seven small islands among which
Trailafquén, Balboa, Los Monos and Las Cuevas stand out. On its
banks are the towns of Licán Ray, Coñaripe and Calafquén.
It
drains through its central part through the short Pullinque river,
which connects it after crossing the small Pullinque lagoon with
Panguipulli lake, part of the upper Valdivia river basin. It has a
surface area of 120.6 km², 25 km maximum length and 7.7 km maximum
width; its depth is 212 m and it is located at 209 meters above sea
level.
The west coast is rocky, clayey, covered with
vegetation and with the formation of sandy beaches at the bottom of
the cove. In the northeastern and eastern sectors, the coast is low,
easily accessible, rocky and volcanic sand. The water is blue-green,
transparent, with temperatures of 9.6 ° C in winter and 22 ° C in
summer. It has seven small islands, including Trailafquén, Balboa,
Los Monos and Las Cuevas. On its banks are the towns of Licán Ray,
Coñaripe and Calafquén.
Lake Calafquén and its villages are
an important tourist center in the lake area of southern Chile;
These have a wide range of cabins and tourist services. The
conditions of Lake Calafquén allow swimming, sport fishing and
yachting.
It is part of the tourist circuit known as the
Seven Lakes along with the Riñihue, Panguipulli, Pirihueico,
Pullinque, Neltume and Pellaifa lakes.