Cajón del Maipo

Cajón del Maipo is a canyon in the Andean southeastern part of Chile's Santiago Metropolitan Region, carved by the upper Maipo River, which is joined there by the El Volcan, Yeso and Colorado rivers along with smaller streams. Its main town, San Jose de Maipo, is the capital of the commune covering all the Andean sectors of the Metropolitan Region, and the canyon extends from near Pirque nearly to the Argentine border beneath major peaks including San Jose, Maipo and Marmolejo, the most southerly mountain in the world taller than 6,000 meters; several nearby mountains, including the active San Jose volcano, last erupted in 1960. The canyon is a popular destination for hikers and campers, drawn especially to the Embalse El Yeso reservoir and the El Morado Natural Monument, home to the San Francisco glacier.