W Trek vs O Circuit: an honest comparison

What actually separates the two treks

The O Circuit is not a longer W - it contains the entire W. The official route for the Macizo Paine circuit runs Serón, Coirón, Los Perros, Paso, Grey, Paine Grande, French Valley and Base Torres, so every O trekker finishes by walking the same three valleys the W covers. That cuts both ways: the W gives you the park's headline sights - Grey Glacier, the French Valley, Base Torres - in 3-5 days, while the O adds the quiet northern stages that day visitors and W hikers never reach. It also explains the crowds: the W legs carry everyone, O trekkers included, while the back side only carries people committed to the full loop.

The back side is a different kind of walking. CONAF applies a one-way restriction on the Serón-Paso section, the legs are longer (Serón-Dickson is the longest published leg at 18 km), and you must register at every ranger station - at Paso and Los Perros you also sign out, for your own safety. Between the Grey and Paso stations the trail crosses two suspension bridges more than 20 m high, which the park itself flags for anyone with vertigo.

Pack weight depends less on which trek you pick than on how you book it: on both routes you sleep only in the concession refuges and campsites, so your load comes down to whether you buy beds and meals or carry a tent to the designated camping areas. Free camping is prohibited everywhere in the park, and so is any use of fire under Ley 20.653.

Seasons and the 2026 closures, with sources

Two dated facts decide most itineraries this year. First: CONAF's official park page states that the Macizo Paine circuit - the O - is closed from May, initially until 31 October 2026. The O closes every winter, so in practice its season is November to April. Second: the park authority announced a temporary closure of the W itself from 1 June to 31 July 2026, with Base Torres as the only exception, and only with accredited specialised guides. On top of that, a winter hiking regulation applies every year from 1 May to 30 September, requiring accredited guides and specific equipment for the mountain trails.

The reasons are concrete. At the DMC weather station in Puerto Natales, the strongest 10-minute average wind recorded in recent years was around 74 km/h (July 2024) - and that is a ten-minute average, not a gust. Daylight at this latitude swings from roughly 16.5 hours at the December solstice to just under 8 hours at the June solstice, and the park forbids walking trails without daylight. None of this is a forecast: the park's own advice is to carry layers for rain, wind and snow in any month.

Refuge booking is mandatory on both treks

The park's official reservation page is explicit: accommodation bookings are mandatory for both the W and the O, and they are made with the two authorised operators - Las Torres Patagonia on the east side (Central, Chileno, Cuernos, Francés and Serón) and Vértice Patagonia on the west and north (Paine Grande, Grey, Dickson and Los Perros). Day hikes such as Base Torres in a day do not require them.

There are no free beds left on the circuits: on the current official CONAF trekking map, Italiano and Paso appear only as ranger stations, not camping areas. Cancellation terms deserve attention too - Las Torres Patagonia charges no penalty at 90 or more days out, 20% from 89 to 70 days, 50% from 69 to 45, and 100% at 44 days or less. An O itinerary means assembling every night across two separate booking systems in the right one-way order; plenty of people settle the W-vs-O question on that logistics alone.

Park entry: one pass covers either trek

Since 1 May 2026 the park sells two ticket types: a day pass at CLP 32,400 for foreign adults aged 18-59, and a multi-day pass at CLP 48,500 valid for a continuous stay of up to 10 days - long enough for the full O at its official 8-10 day duration, and for any W itinerary. Children under 12 enter free.

Buy it on pasesparques.cl, the official CONAF platform, at least 24 hours before you enter. The pass is separate from your refuge bookings and from any tour you book.

What you can book on this site - and what you can't

Honesty first: the bookable programmes on this site cover the W, not the O. If you decide on the O, you book it night by night directly with Vértice Patagonia (booking.vertice.travel) and Las Torres Patagonia - as of August 2026 Vértice already shows its 2026-27 season open for reservations - or through a trekking operator that assembles the loop for you.

If the W is your answer, the guided programmes bookable here all leave from Puerto Natales: the 5-day W Trek Express from €1,034 (a camping and tiny-house mix, with a guide on the Base Torres day), the 5-day trek with camping and a Grey Lake navigation from €1,642, and — for a shorter, hotel-based taste of the park — the 3-day guided experience from €730. All prices checked August 2026; the binding price is always the one in the booking box. They differ in accommodation and inclusions rather than in the valleys covered, so compare the itineraries before choosing.