Carretera Austral
Back in early 2008 I rode a bicycle some 600 clicks down a mainly gravel road called the Carretera Austral, from Puerto Montt to Coyhaique in Northern Patagonia, (Southern Chile). Back then the road was 75% unpaved, and skirts the coastline on the west side of the lower Andes, takes in two ferry trips, and cuts through two big areas of rare temperate rainforest.
The weather can be notoriously cruel, and obliged by throwing it's fair share of rain, hail, and wind at me. But it was all very much worth it, the route is rated one of the great roadtrips left out there, and it didn't disappoint. If you like, you can follow the gravel further south to it's endpoint at the little outpost called Villa O'Higgins. Do it quick, before they cover the rest in tarmac too.
The weather can be notoriously cruel, and obliged by throwing it's fair share of rain, hail, and wind at me. But it was all very much worth it, the route is rated one of the great roadtrips left out there, and it didn't disappoint. If you like, you can follow the gravel further south to it's endpoint at the little outpost called Villa O'Higgins. Do it quick, before they cover the rest in tarmac too.