Río de Los Cipreses National Reserve is a nature reserve

Nature reserve

A nature reserve is a protected area of importance for wildlife, flora, fauna or features of geological or other special interest, which is reserved and managed for conservation and to provide special opportunities for study or research...

 located in Machalí

Machalí

Machalí is a Chilean commune and city in Cachapoal Province, O'Higgins Region.-Demographics:According to the 2002 census of the National Statistics Institute, Machalí spans an area of and has 28,628 inhabitants . Of these, 26,852 lived in urban areas and 1,776 in rural areas...

, O'Higgins Region

O'Higgins Region

The VI O'Higgins Region is one of Chile's 15 first order administrative divisions. It is subdivided into three provinces. It is named in honour of Bernardo O'Higgins Riquelme, one of Chile's founding fathers....

, Chile

Chile

Chile ,officially the Republic of Chile , is a country in South America occupying a long, narrow coastal strip between the Andes mountains to the east and the Pacific Ocean to the west. It borders Peru to the north, Bolivia to the northeast, Argentina to the east, and the Drake Passage in the far...

. It is named after Río de Los Cipreses, a tributary of Cachapoal River

Cachapoal River

Cachapoal River is tibutary river of the Rapel River in Chile located in the O'Higgins Region. The river gives its name to the Cachapoal Province.- Source :*...

 and lies in one of the most glaciated areas of the Central Chile Andes

Andes

The Andes is the world's longest continental mountain range. It is a continual range of highlands along the western coast of South America. This range is about long, about to wide , and of an average height of about .Along its length, the Andes is split into several ranges, which are separated...

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The reserve contains Valdivian temperate forests at lower elevations and Southern Andean steppe

Southern Andean steppe

The Southern Andean steppe is an montane grasslands and shrublands ecoregion occurring along the border of Chile and Argentina in the high elevations of the southern Andes mountain range.-Setting:...

 at higher elevations. It also protects some of the northernmost stands of Austrocedrus chilensis

Austrocedrus

Austrocedrus is a genus of conifer belonging to the cypress family Cupressaceae. It has only one species, Austrocedrus chilensis, native to the Valdivian temperate rain forests and the adjacent drier steppe-forests of central-southern Chile and western Argentina from 33°S to 44°S latitude...

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The reserve offers opportunities for mountain climbing. It is home to challenging mountains, including Palomo

Palomo

Palomo is a Chilean stratovolcano located in the O'Higgins Region, west of Caldera del Atuel. The volcano shows evidence of glacial dissection....

 volcano, Alto de Los Arrieros and Cerro Dr. Hernán Cruz.