The O Circuit at a glance
| Status for 2026-27 | Closed until at least October 31, 2026. No reopening date confirmed yet (as of October 16, 2026) |
|---|---|
| Distance | About 138 km (86 mi) |
| Days | 8 days and 7 nights is the usual plan |
| Direction | Counterclockwise only |
| High point | John Gardner Pass, 1,200 m (3,937 ft) |
| Nights | Campsites and refugios, every night booked before you arrive |
| Guide | Not required. CONAF can require one when the weather is adverse, and announces it |
| Park pass | Bought online only, before you travel |
Is the O Circuit open this season?
Not yet. CONAF, the agency that runs Chile's national parks, has the Paine Massif circuit (the official name of the O) closed until October 31, 2026, and says any change will be announced through its official channels. In September 2026 CONAF said that reopening the circuit and John Gardner Pass depends on a technical and weather review before they open.
That means two things for anyone planning the O this season:
- November 1 is the earliest possible date, not a confirmed one. Last season CONAF announced a reopening date and then postponed it for a storm front. Plan as if the first days of November could still be closed.
- The official source is CONAF and Pases Parques. CONAF says official information on Torres del Paine is only available through those two channels. Blogs, forums and tour sites (including this one) can be out of date within days.
We update this page when CONAF confirms a date.
What changed after November 2025
On November 17, 2025, a sudden storm hit the high section of the circuit near John Gardner Pass. Five hikers died, and survivors described hours in whiteout conditions on the exposed upper part of the route. The circuit was closed.
When CONAF reopened the O in December 2025, it did so with extraordinary measures: a cap of 100 people per day, walking in one direction only, mandatory registration at the Coirón ranger station and permanent rangers in the Dickson, Los Perros and Paso sectors. The reopening was then pushed back a few days because of bad weather.
For a few weeks, a licensed guide was required on the circuit. On January 1, 2026, CONAF lifted that requirement and put a new safety protocol in place for mountain trails. Under it, CONAF uses predefined thresholds for wind, rain and temperature to decide preventive closures earlier, and works with Chile's emergency agency (SENAPRED) and weather service on alerts and forecasts. Access to the circuit depends on following the protocol, the weather on the day and the rangers' assessment on the ground.
The rules to expect in 2026-27
Some rules are confirmed and some are not. We keep them separate.
Confirmed:
- Every night must be booked before you arrive. You can only sleep at authorized campsites and refugios. There are no walk-up nights on the O.
- The O is walked counterclockwise. Some sections, including Serón to Dickson and Dickson to Los Perros, are one-way trails, so your bookings have to follow that order.
- No hiking in the dark. CONAF does not allow walking the trails without daylight, and asks hikers to respect trail closing times.
- Park passes are sold online only. Buy yours on Pases Parques before you travel and carry it with your passport. Our Torres del Paine travel guide covers passes and refugios in detail.
- Access can be closed on the day. Under the 2026 protocol, rangers can close the pass when the weather crosses the safety thresholds.
- A guide can become mandatory in adverse weather. The O does not require a guide, but CONAF can require one when conditions are adverse, and it announces this through its official channels.
Not confirmed yet for this season:
- whether the 100-person daily cap returns;
- whether registration at Coirón and the reinforced ranger presence continue as in December 2025;
- the reopening date itself.
The route, stage by stage
The O loops around the Paine massif. The first half crosses the quiet north and west of the park; the second half joins the W.
| Day | Stage | Distance |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Central to Camping Serón | about 13 km (8 mi) |
| 2 | Serón to Refugio & Camping Dickson | about 18.7 km (11.6 mi) |
| 3 | Dickson to Camping Los Perros | about 12.9 km (8 mi) |
| 4 | Los Perros over John Gardner Pass to Grey | about 17 km (10.5 mi) |
| 5 | Grey to Paine Grande | about 12 km (7.5 mi) |
| 6 | Paine Grande to Francés, via Valle Francés | about 26.7 km (16.5 mi) |
| 7 | Francés to Central | about 16 km (10 mi) |
| 8 | Base Torres and out | about 22 km (14 mi) |
Serón and Los Perros are campsites only, and Los Perros has cold showers only. The other nights can be a shared dorm in the refugio or a tent, depending on availability.
John Gardner Pass: what the day is really like
Day 4 is the reason the O is rated advanced. Plan to leave Camping Los Perros, at about 550 m, around 9 a.m. at the latest; the park controls the time for starting the pass. From camp you climb out of the forest over rocky and often muddy ground to the pass at 1,200 m, usually in strong wind. Ten to twelve hours is a normal day. From the top, Grey Glacier spreads out below you, flowing from the Southern Patagonian Ice Field. The descent to Lago Grey is steep, through lenga and coigüe forest and across three hanging bridges.
What matters most on this day is not fitness alone. It is starting early, reading the weather honestly and turning back when the conditions say so. The same section that is a long, beautiful day in calm weather is exposed and serious in a storm. For footwear on the pass, see boots or trail runners.
You will also see the pass written as "John Garner", which is the official name CONAF uses. Most maps, guides and searches use John Gardner, so we do too.
Do you need a guide on the O?
No. Since January 1, 2026, you can walk the O self-guided if you meet the park's rules on safety, registration and bookings. The exception is adverse weather: CONAF can require a guide when conditions call for it, and announces it through its official channels.
A guide makes sense if:
- you have not done a multi-day trek in wind and cold before;
- you want someone else to manage the pass day, the timing and the decision to go or wait;
- you would rather not deal with booking seven nights in the right order across different booking systems.
The O is not the right trip for you if eight days in a row on the trail, one of them 10 to 12 hours long, sounds like more than you want. In that case the W gives you Base Torres, Valle Francés and Grey Glacier in 5 days.
If your dates are in early November
- Keep your dates flexible if you can. The opening date can move with the weather.
- Check your bookings' change rules before you pay, in case the opening date moves.
- Follow CONAF and Pases Parques in the weeks before you travel, not only the week of.
On Vertic trips, an activity goes ahead in bad weather unless it is dangerous; in a case of force majeure, such as a park closure, we reschedule or refund.
How we run the O
We guide the O ourselves, with a Vertic guide on every stage, and we book all seven nights in the right order before you arrive. Our guided O runs from November to March, with a fixed small-group departure planned for November 2027. If you prefer to walk on your own, our self-guided O covers the same loop with every night, the park pass and the transfers booked for you.
Planning the O this season? Tell us your dates.
