Cajón del Maipo tour from Santiago: El Yeso Reservoir

★★★★★★★★★★ 4.74 (554 reviews) 87% rated it 5 stars

Free cancellationExcellent quality

1/9

Duration10h

GroupUp to 19

LanguagesPT · ES

PickupAt your hotel

The Andes rise around you at El Yeso Reservoir, where snow-capped peaks frame water that catches the light.

A full-day guided tour of Cajón del Maipo from Santiago takes you into the Andes by minivan with a small group, a professional guide and hotel pickup included. The route visits El Yeso Reservoir, the historic Tinoco tunnel carved through rock, and the Chocolate House — a landmark café set in a small forest. Winter closures may redirect the tour to other areas of Cajón del Maipo with comparable mountain scenery. The day ends with a group toast before the drive back to the city.

10h

Step-by-step itinerary

Explore Cajón del Maipo and Yeso Reservoir

Travel from Santiago to Cajón del Maipo
Discover San José de Maipo town
Visit Plaza de Armas
Stop at the Chocolate House
Walk through Tinoco tunnel
See El Yeso Reservoir views
Enjoy picnic with the group

The Experience

Cajón del Maipo sits a few kilometers from Santiago, a mountain canyon carved by rivers and ringed by cliffs and massifs that shift with the seasons. The tour runs 10 hours and travels by shared minivan with a small group, so the pace stays manageable and the guide can stop to point out details — condors overhead, the snow line on the peaks, the way the light hits the water. Your hotel pickup means no navigating to a meeting point; the driver collects you in the morning and brings you back at the end of the day.

El Yeso Reservoir is the centerpiece — a body of water backed by snow-capped mountains that most visitors come to see. The Tinoco tunnel, a 600-meter engineering feat carved through rock for a railway that stopped running in 1985, marks another stop where the guide explains the history. The Chocolate House, one of the oldest and most distinctive tourist spots in the canyon, sits in a small forest with a cafeteria built to look like it belongs in a fairy tale — a place to rest and take in the surroundings. The Plaza de Armas in San José de Maipo, the main town, gives you time to walk around, sit under the trees and browse local craft stalls if you visit on a weekend when the fair is running. Winter weather — snow, landslides, road closures — can redirect the route to other areas of Cajón del Maipo with their own mountain landscapes; the guide will adapt the stops to what is passable that day.

The guide speaks Spanish or Portuguese and travels with the group the whole time, sharing the history of the sites and the canyon itself. At the end of the day, before the drive back to Santiago, the group gathers for a toast — a small ritual that marks the end of the outing. Wear smart casual clothes and bring layers; the mountains are cooler than the city, and the wind at altitude is real.

What’s included

Hotel pickup and drop-off in Santiago.
professional guide in Spanish or Portuguese.
round-trip shared minivan transfer.
a toast with the group at the end of the day.

Good to know

Easy physical levelStroller friendlyInfant seats availableNot for pregnant travelersNot for heart conditionsNot for back problems

Operated by TAC Turismo

Is this one for you?Book this tour for a first or middle day in Santiago when you want to see the Andes without arranging a car or a guide yourself — the minivan, the guide and the fixed stops mean the day holds together, and the small group keeps the pace unhurried.