Road to San Juan de la Costa
Route U-40 is the main access to the coast of Osorno province. It leaves Rahue, in Osorno, and reaches the coast of San Juan de la Costa, via Bahía Mansa to Maicolpué. It is about 57 km to Bahía Mansa, roughly an hour by car.
What the road is like
The U-40 crosses the Huilliche heartland of Osorno province. It leaves the city between grazing hills and dairy country, works into the Coastal Range and, in the last few kilometres, drops through native forest until the Pacific appears all at once, almost always with fog hanging off the hills.
Bahía Mansa is a working cove, with boats hauled up and fresh fish on display; Maicolpué, a couple of kilometres on, is where Osorno spends its summers. It is a short road that changes worlds in an hour: you leave farming valleys behind and arrive at a coast of cold water, shellfish and communities that have kept their language and their cooking.
Route facts
Destinations you can reach
- Bahía Mansa: pier with excursions to Caleta Cóndor and small seafood and fish restaurants.
- Maicolpué: the first big beach south of Bahía Mansa, with cabins and camping.
- Pucatrihue: off the coast is Huenteao island, where penguins nest. Look at it only from a boat.
- Tril Tril: the beach where the road ends.
The area is Huilliche territory: there is a Mapuche cemetery, herb walks with local guides and an intercultural hospital, with visits by appointment.
Tips
- In spring there are few people. In summer the cabins fill up.
- Waves at Pucatrihue are often high: boat trips are hard for inexperienced people.