Torres del Paine National Park in Patagonia, Chile May 13, 2025

Torres del Paine National Park in Patagonia, Chile

Wildlife roams freely in one of Chile"s most stunning protected areas, where towering peaks and ancient glaciers shape the land. Established on this day in 1959, Torres del Paine National Park in Patagonia turns 66 years old today and covers over 448,000 acres. Originally called Grey Lake National Tourism Park, it was renamed in 1970 and later designated a UNESCO Biosphere Reserve in 1978. Its most recognizable feature—the three massive granite peaks known as the Torres—stands over 8,000 feet tall. These formations took shape through magma intrusion and uplift, followed by millions of years of glacial erosion, leaving behind the jagged spires seen today.

© Marco Bottigelli/Getty Images

palette

Today in History

May 13, 2018Happy Mother’s Day
May 13, 2019In praise of bogs, swamps, and marshes
May 13, 2020Of moose and Maine
May 13, 2021Hues of Hokkaido
May 13, 2023World Migratory Bird Day
May 13, 2024Fish River Canyon, Namibia

More Desktop Wallpapers:

Dec 22, 2019You ve never seen anything like this
May 4, 2025Star Wars Day
Aug 7, 2023National Lighthouse Day
Feb 26, 2025Castle Stalker, Argyll, Scotland
Aug 19, 2019On the wings of the Wright brothers
Jan 18, 2020Sands of time
Aug 11, 2021Everyone s watching the Perseids
Sep 7, 2024National Hummingbird Day
May 25, 2020Here we mark the price of freedom
Aug 6, 2025Kalalau Beach on the Nā Pali Coast, Kauai, Hawaii
Jun 3, 2022World Bicycle Day
Jan 17, 2021On the Route of the Waterfalls
Oct 12, 2022Fossil Day
Mar 10, 2020A festival of colors
May 9, 2023A castle fit for a count
Nov 19, 2022Zion National Park turns 103
Dec 19, 2021Aurora borealis
Mar 17, 2026Happy St. Patricks Day!
Mar 15, 2022Beware the Ides of March
Dec 19, 2023Castle Square, Old Town, Warsaw, Poland
Mar 28, 2021Cherry blossoms spring to life
Jan 2, 2020Winter in the Finnish wilds
Aug 19, 2020Freeze frame
Jul 29, 2018A Bengal tiger in Ranthambore National Park, India
Jul 23, 2023Nuwara Eliya, Sri Lanka
Jan 4, 2026Kings Mountain, Chugach Mountains, Alaska
Dec 7, 2024National Pearl Harbor Remembrance Day
May 7, 2025Dunluce Castle, County Antrim, Northern Ireland
Aug 27, 2020Rocks on the move
Nov 27, 2022Cecropia leaf and lobster claw petals in Mexico