Stepping Up

How top lodges and high-end hotels are catering to their trekking-obsessed guests.

- By Mary Holland

AMID THE JAGGED PEAKS and glacial lakes of Torres del Paine National Park in Chile, I could feel the relaxation sweep over my body. Hiking with a guide, I was burning plenty of calories, but just being in the pine forest was filling me with a palpable sense of calm. And while it’s not exactly news that Patagonia is a stunning place to hike, I was surprised by my own enthusiasm for lacing up my boots. After all, I was staying at Explora Torres del Paine (doubles from $770 per person, all-inclusive), a luxury lodge that’s among the most plush in Chile. I would’ve been content to mellow out in the heated mountain-view pool, but in pushing myself, I’d inadvertently stumbled onto one of the latest trends in travel.

“There’s been a surge in hiking tourism, particularly in remote areas,” says Sebastian Correa, a vice president at Explora. The company, which has hotels in Argentina, Bolivia, Chile, and Peru, has seen so much interest that it has expanded for the first time outside of South America: this summer, Explora will launch guided hikes across southern Iceland.