Radal Siete Tazas and Curicó: the practical guide

Updated July 2026 · Written from Puerto Varas by Patagonia SimRacing

In the Andean foothills of Chile's Maule Region, a couple of hours from Curicó, the Claro River has carved a chain of intensely turquoise rock pools into volcanic stone — the "seven cups" that give Radal Siete Tazas National Park its name — with a 25-meter waterfall waiting at the end of the trail. Down in the valley, Curicó and its surroundings — Molina, Lontué, Sagrada Familia — hold one of Chile's oldest wine routes, and a little further south the thermal waters of Panimávida and Quinamávida make the perfect finale to the trip. Here's what to know before plotting your route between forest, wine and hot springs.

The must-sees

1. Radal Siete Tazas National Park: the pools of the Claro River

In the municipality of Molina, Curicó province, Radal Siete Tazas National Park protects a stretch of the Claro River where water running over basaltic volcanic rock spent centuries carving a chain of intensely turquoise pools — the "seven cups" the place is named after — linked together by small cascades. The area was first protected as a tourism protection zone in 1981 and only declared a National Park on March 27, 2008; today it is managed by CONAF and open year-round, though high season runs December to March. The Salto La Leona trail, about 1,200 meters and a minimum 45-minute walk, is the busiest: it starts beside the cups and ends at the waterfall of the same name. One key detail: tickets are sold online only, on the official pasesparques.cl platform — there is no ticket booth on site.

2. Salto la Leona and Velo de la Novia: the park's waterfalls

At the foot of the trail past the cups, Salto La Leona is a roughly 25-meter waterfall plunging into an icy pool surrounded by native forest — raulí, coigüe, Chilean hazel, cordillera cypress — and one of the park's most photographed viewpoints. A little deeper in, the sector known as Parque Inglés (home to the CONAF administration office, about 10 km above the village of Radal) gives access to another waterfall, the Velo de la Novia, and to longer trails like the Cóndor Circuit, which pushes into the Radal Siete Tazas National Reserve — the larger, older unit surrounding the park proper — toward the remote Termas del Azufre hot springs, a multi-day trek only for experienced hikers with mountain gear, not a day trip.

3. Curicó: the gateway with a history of its own

Curicó was founded on October 9, 1743 by governor José Antonio Manso de Velasco — the same man who founded Talca, Rancagua, San Fernando and several other central-valley cities — on land donated by local residents. Its Plaza de Armas, a declared heritage zone (Zona Típica), is lined with dozens of palm trees and keeps a cast-iron civic bandstand, now a National Monument, that remains the downtown meeting point. The earthquake of February 27, 2010 — whose epicenter lay just off this region's coast — damaged much of the city's historic center, including its main church, and forced years of rebuilding. Today Curicó works above all as a launch pad: toward the park, toward the surrounding wineries, and southward to the hot springs.

4. The Curicó Valley wine route: Lontué, Molina and Sagrada Familia

The Ruta del Vino Valles de Curicó gathers a winemaking tradition dating back to the 19th century, spread across two areas: the Teno Valley, toward Rauco and Romeral, and the Lontué Valley, around Molina and Sagrada Familia. The zone's Mediterranean climate — hot summers, mild winters, a marked day-night temperature swing — favors both reds and sparkling wines. Viña San Pedro, founded in 1865 by the Correa Albano brothers in Molina, farms one of the largest continuous vineyard blocks in South America, at close to 1,200 hectares. Viña Valdivieso, founded in 1879 by Alberto Valdivieso with its winery in Lontué, was the first producer of champenoise-method sparkling wine in Chile and South America. And Miguel Torres Chile, the Chilean branch of the historic Catalan winemaking family, established in Curicó since 1979, offers guided tours — the Cordillera de Los Andes Tour, the Torres Sparkling Wines Tour, a bike ride through the vineyards — plus La Bodeguita, its seasonal-cuisine restaurant ranked among the best in regional Chile.

5. Panimávida and Quinamávida hot springs: the relaxed end of the route

About 85 km south of Curicó and the park, near Linares, the Termas de Panimávida and Termas de Quinamávida — barely 3 km apart, the latter beside Lake Colbún — are among the oldest and best-known thermal resorts in the Maule. In their heyday, dozens of buses arrived every weekend from Talca, Linares, Chillán, Curicó and Cauquenes, and the village of Panimávida also became famous for the horsehair weavings from the neighboring town of Rari, sold on its streets. Today both complexes still operate as hotel-spas with thermal pools — ideal for winding down after a day of hiking in the park or tasting at the wineries.

Approximate prices (2026)

Park tickets are sold online only at pasesparques.cl and vary by entry point; winery and hot-spring prices change with the season and whether meals or massages are included — confirm current rates before booking.

How to get there and when to go

• By car from Santiago: Curicó is about 200 km (2.5 hours) down Ruta 5 Sur. From Curicó or Molina it's about 65 km to the park along route L-27, mostly paved, up to the Parque Inglés sector, where the CONAF administration office is.
• By bus: regular services run from Terminal de Buses Santiago (Alameda) to Curicó and Molina; from Molina you'll need a taxi or rural shared van to reach the park, and they don't always run daily — confirm schedules before setting off.
• Park tickets: sold online only at pasesparques.cl — there is no on-site sales point, nor in the village of Radal.
• Harvest season: March–April is the best time to see the grape harvest at the wineries around Molina, Lontué and beyond.
• Park season: December–March concentrates most visits, with the river lower and milder for a dip in the pools; in winter the flow swells and some upper stretches can close due to snow or rain.

FAQ

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