An interesting question but I cannot find an answer on the internet. I would imagine that as some people go to TdP in camper vans that it is possible provided you pay for your spot. Perhaps email Vertice who have both a refugio (Paine Grande) and a campground and ask if they have a policy:

verticepatagonia.cl/ingles/…reserva.htm

However, different campgrounds might have different policies as most are not run by the park itself. There are free campsites with virtually no facilities as well. Most campsites run on a first come first served basis.

Hi!

You can only park your car near Las Torres Hotel area and Las Torres refuge area where you can also find a camping area and sleep in the car but you must pay anyway for staying there (private area in the park) and the price per person would be USD 6 approx. per night.

If you don't want to bring your own camping gear, each refuge and camping area in the park can rent you the equipment (tent, sleeping bag, camping mattress, etc.) and they don't allow you to take this gear from one refuge to the another one because the refuges and camp sites belong to different companies...so you don't need to carry everything while trekking :)

Next to each private camping area you'll find a refuge and you can use showers, toilets, restaurant service, grocery store, etc.

Try directly with the original provider of Las Torres camping area by clicking this link: http://www.wcircuit.com/en/alb-torres.html

Then, it is not possible to park the car near another camping area in the park because they are away from the main road. I know this is difficult to understand and I hope you've got a map to check locations that I am mentioning. If not, let me know it to send you one.

Another thing is the kind of trekking circuit that you are going to take in the park because weather is one of the main factors I mean..it changes very quickly all year round and you never know how difficult the trek would be then and even if the weather is good, almost all the hikes are medium-high difficulty so you need to rest well! Make sure to rent a good car if you want to sleep in it.

Hope this helps you a bit more!

BTW, 'dancingmolly' was mentioning Paine Grande refuge (called Vertice as well). This is one of the most beautiful and comfortable refuges in the park but it is not possible to get there by car.

It is located on the other side of Pehoé Lake and to get there you need to hike through a trail where vehicles can not access or by crossing the lake with a small catamaran.

PatagoniaTrips, do you know of a link with information on the campgrounds available in the park? It would be a huge help. I was hoping to find a map with them all on it but gave up after a while. Also, quite a few people rent cars to go to TdP so any information on where they can actually access by car would be useful (so I don't send anyone else plunging into the lake in his car!).

Hi

Not sure if this is too late for your plans but last we rented a car and drove to Torres del Paine. We did not have time to do any major treks so we found a campsite quite near the main road and based ourselves there. It was Camping Pehoe and their website is:

www.overland-sodexho.com

You can hire all the equipment and the tent is already put up for you. There is a restaurant on site and it is walkable to the Hosteria Pehoe.

Great views from the campsite by the way!

Thank you, OxonBadger! I sure hope that it's not too late to make reservations, because that sounds perfect for what we want to do! Thanks for the input, everyone.