Afternoon: The Liucura Valley
The road out of town toward Caburgua climbs gently for about 20 minutes before a turnoff leads to Ojos del Caburgua, a pair of interlinked pools fed by underground seepage from Lago Caburgua rather than any visible river — which is what gives the water its startling, electric-blue clarity. Short wooden walkways and a handful of viewpoints trace the pools and the waterfalls feeding them, set into dense native forest; there's no swimming here, just a walk through one of the more photogenic corners of the Araucanía. From there the route backtracks toward town before picking up the road that follows the Río Liucura upstream toward Huife, a valley strung with hot springs — Pucón Indómito, Peumayén, Quimey-Co, Huife itself — before ending at Termas Los Pozones, a set of rustic stone pools built directly into the riverbank. Unlike the more polished spas passed along the way, Los Pozones keeps things simple: five pools of varying temperature, forest pressing in on all sides, and the sound of the Liucura running past below. It's the kind of place that rewards no particular plan — just moving pool to pool as the afternoon wears on — before the short drive back into Pucón for the evening.