Maipo valley and thermal baths

Our car is still not here, so we rented a small four door car and headed to the Maipo valley for a night. We made reservations at Refugio Lo Valdes on the recommendation of friends, and planned to go up to the thermal pools near there.

In summary, a worthwhile trip, family friendly "hotel", and a great place if you want to go on hikes/treks. Nice.

Rating (0=hated, 5=ok, 10=absolutely must see):
8 out of 10.
Family friendly

The drive is only 80-90kms, but it takes about 2 hours due to the gravel/dirt roads that slow you down to 30kph. Bumpy, dusty, noisy, but the views are good.

The Refugio is somewhere between a hotel and a hostel. We got a 5 bed room (2 bunkbeds) and added a crib for L. Lo Valdes has a full restaurant so you can fill up before heading out. The bathrooms are shared, if you care.

One nice surprise is that it has many activities for kids on the grounds. There is a playhouse, a swing, slide, waterfall, mini hikes, a pond, and a room with games and the latest movies (if you want to go there to show them "The Incredibles"). You can definitely take your kids there and they will be welcomed. I did feel bad that L. woke up at night and cried a bit, and that they both were up relatively early. I hope we didn't get blacklisted :).

In the afternoon, we headed off to the thermal pools Termas de Colina. They are on private land, and costs 5,000 pesos for an adult. Quite a bit. The pools look to be carved by man, but fed by water trickling down the mountain. There are 7 or so pools, with varying temperatures, and a bathroom/changin room building next to them. There are some pictures of them on the net, but I'll upload a few in a bit. My take: the bathrooms make it feel like a public pool, and they were a bit crowded when we went. The kids liked them enough (L. loved it, I. was hesitant and hated the taste of the water).

The parking lot is basically a campground, with cars and tents in the same space. Not an attractive way to camp as people are moving cars just a few feet from your breakfast table. You can set up farther away and close to a river if you want. When you get out of the warm water, you will get cold very fast. Bring a strategy to change or get covered quickly, especially for the kids. Or make use of the bathroom next to the pools for changing. Also, there isn't really a spot to put down your backpack and valuables, so people just keep them by the pools, on the clay ground. I recommend either the bathrooms or a robe you can use to carry the kids to the car to change them. Keep in mind that the walk is on a loose gravel and dirt path with a slight hill. They are apparently open 24hrs, and I'm told that it is quite a lot of fun to go there are night.

While driving along the river, we noticed a campground in an isolated spot, down the ravine, that would be perfect if you are looking for solitude but want to be near the beaten path. There are also lots of hiking/trekking routes, as well as climbing, and even a "secret lake" that has no marked route, but locals can explain how to get there. We'll try for it next time.

Refugio location:

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