La Campana National Park 3.29

La Campana National Park is located in the Cordillera de la Costa, Quillota Province, in the Valparaíso Region of Chile. La Campana National Park and the Vizcachas Mountains lie northwest of Santiago. This national park covers approximately 80sqkm and is home to one of the last palm forests of Jubaea chilensis (Chilean Wine Palm), which prehistorically had a much wider distribution than at present. Another attraction is the Cerro La Campana, which lends its name to the park. In 1834 Charles Darwin climbed this mountain, during the second voyage of HMS Beagle.In 1984, the park, along with Lago Peñuelas National Reserve, was designated by UNESCO as a Biosphere Reserve.BiologyThe park is in the Chilean Matorral Ecoregion. Chilean Wine Palm groves occur in the Ocoa Valley. Other typical vegetation species occurring in the park include the Boldo, Litre, Peumo, Patagua, Winter's Bark and Lingue.