At the crossroads town of La Junta, new penetration roads proceed west along the Río Palena toward the port of Raúl Marín Balmaceda and east up the Río Figueroa valley toward the Argentine border. Local businesses, thus, are placing themselves as a “place of encounter” for exploring the “Cuenca de Palena,” the Río Palena drainage.

On a broad plain at the confluence of the two rivers, just south of the regional border between Aisén and Los Lagos, La Junta (population about 1,200) is the main access point to Reserva Nacional Lago Rosselot, a 12,725-hectare forest reserve whose longitudinal finger lake is known for its fishing.

La Junta gained a measure of notoriety when, in 2001, local authorities erected an unauthorized monument to General Pinochet—still popular with some residents for building the north–south highway. Others, though, find this embarrassing; with a change of local administration and a project to widen the highway through town, they may have an excuse to remove it without ruffling feathers—or raising hackles.