Chile · CL

Río Donguil

The Donguil River winds through the lush temperate rainforest of Chile's Araucanía Region, just four kilometres south of the small town of Gorbea. Its crowning attraction is Salto Donguil, a two-armed waterfall that plunges six metres into a long emerald pool framed by native forest—a place where the Mapuche name of the river still echoes through the landscape. Once a local hydroelectric installation from the early twentieth century, the Donguil's falls were converted into a public recreation site after Gorbea connected to the national grid. Today the river's natural swimming pool, forest trails, and picnic clearings draw families from across the region each summer, while winter months bring a different spectacle: the traditional Mapuche night fishing for filoko, the pouched lamprey that runs upstream from the sea. With free access, well-marked paths, and an upcoming ecotourism park under development, the Donguil River basin is one of Araucanía's quietly rewarding day-trip destinations—close to Temuco yet far from the crowds of the lake district.