Cerro Dorotea rises 800 metres above the Last Hope fjord, its western flank carrying a network of gaucho trails that have linked estancias to the port of Puerto Natales since the 1920s wool-export boom. The summit plateau offers unobstructed sightlines across the Balmaceda and Serrano glaciers, the grey granite spires of Torres del Paine 80 kilometres north, and the Argentine steppe unrolling east toward the Fitz Roy massif. Horse trekking Puerto Natales tours operate year-round from working sheep stations along the base of the massif, many of which still run seasonal shearing operations and maintain remudas descended from Criollo stock brought overland from Buenos Aires in the early 20th century. The region's equestrian culture emerged from necessity rather than leisure. Patagonian estancias covered territories larger than some European nations, and horseback travel remained the only viable method of boundary patrol, livestock management, and supply transport until the Pan-American Highway reached Magallanes in the 1970s. Today's trail rides follow the same contour paths gauchos cut to move flocks between summer pastures on the plateau and winter shelter in the lenga-forested valleys. The horses—compact, thick-coated, unfazed by wind—are bred for endurance rather than speed, their gaits calibrated to the volcanic scree and tussock-grass slopes that characterise the terrain. Most horse trekking Puerto Natales tours depart from estancias 10 to 15 kilometres north of town, accessed via gravel roads that branch from Route 9. Half-day rides typically ascend the lower slopes of Cerro Dorotea, reaching viewpoints between 400 and 600 metres elevation where the Última Esperanza fjord system spreads below in a series of glacial inlets. Full-day expeditions push to the 800-metre summit or traverse lateral valleys toward the Argentine border, crossing high moorland where guanacos graze in herds of 30 or more. The trail infrastructure remains minimal—no permanent shelters, no marked junctions—and riders navigate by landform recognition and the accumulated route knowledge of estancia guides who have worked these ridges for decades. Wind is the defining weather variable; westerlies accelerate through the fjord corridor and strike the Dorotea massif with consistent force, making early-morning departures the standard practice to avoid the afternoon gusts that can exceed 60 kilometres per hour.