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All photos on this website by Jack Cox - Travel & Nature Photographer - Assignments welcome

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Much more than hotels - Octopus Travel

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Let's Discover the Picos de Europa mountain range in northern Spain

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The Picos de Europa is a mountain range lying very roughdry one hundred kilometers southwest of Santander, at the point where the three autonomous regions of Asturias, Cantabria and Castilla y Leon meet. It is the highest part of the much longer Cordillera Cantábrica mountain range. 

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The Western Massif is the largest and most varied of the three. Peña Santa de Castilla (2,596m) is the highest peak in the Western Massif.

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The Central Massif is arguably the most impressive of the three. It is here, on the summit of Pico Tesorero (2,570 m) that the three autonomous regions meet. The highest summit in the Picos de Europa is Pico Torrecerredo at (2,648 m) in the Central Massif

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The Eastern Massive is the smallest and least dramatic of the three. Morra de Lechugales (2,444m) is the highest point in the Eastern Massif.

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The western and eastern boundaries of the  mountain range are clearly marked by rivers. To the east flows the Rio Deva, and to the west flows the Rio Sella. The north and south boundaries are harder to define but for practical purposes, if not strictly accurate from a administrative pot of view, the park can be considered to lie between four roads with a town at each corner. The towns are Cangas de Onís in the north-west corner, Panes in the north-east corner, Potes in the south-east corner and Riaño in the south-west corner. As I say, some of these town are not strictly with the park boundaries but the topography between them is what you came here to enjoy.

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The roads which link these towns are the N-625 between Riaño and Cangas de Onís which runs north to south, to the west of the park; the N-621 runs between Panes and Potes, and then on to Riaño, forming useful western and southern conceptual boundaries. Finally there is the AS-114 which runs east-west between Cangas de Onís and Panes, forming a conceptual northern border. Actually, looking at the map, it looks more like a downward pointing triangle than a square, with Riaño in the south corner, Cangas de Onís in the north-west and Panes in the north-east but such a conception ignores Potes which is an important town. 

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You can think of these three roads, the N-265, N-261 and AS-114 as forming the Picos de Europa ring road. From this ring road there are eight dead end roads which lead into the interior of the park. At least according to the official hand book there are eight. There remains one I haven't found yet and there are numerous other small ones which just go to the next village. Two of the 'dead end roads' actually link up.

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Access road 1 - Potes to Fuente Dé. This is clearly the best of the eight roads. It is two lane the whole way with ample parking at Fuente Dé, probably due the existence of the Fuente Dé cable car. There are several welcoming villages along the way with good restaurants, camp sites and hostels. The villagers are friendly and speak and understand Castilian, even when delivered with a foreign accent. This is not necessarily true elsewhere in the interior of the park where any deviation form their local accent confuses them. Don't expect anyone to speak or understand English. There may be a few but they are the exception. Everyone is very kind and friendly though. This is what I found anyway. 

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Access road 2 - Portilla de la Reina to Posada de Valdeón, going through the Pandetrave Pass (1562 metres) and the villages of Santa Marina and Prada. The final stretch between Prada and Posada de Valdeón is very narrow although a new road was under construction when I was there in the summer of 2010.

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Access road 3 - El Pontón Pass to Cain de Valdeón, going through the Panderruedas Pass (1450 metres) and the villages of Caldevilla, Soto Valdeón, Posada de Valdeón, Los Llanos where there is an interesting old wolf trap, and Cordiñanes. Sections of this road are single track with overhanging rocks. Not suitable for motor caravans past Soto. As you will have noticed, both roads two and three go trough Posada de Valdeón making through navigation possible. Posada de Valdeón is also one extremity of the Caries Walk, following the course of the River Caries, through Cain, on its way to Poncebos. This make the road and villages very busy, especially in the summer and at weekends. 

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Access road 4 - Oseja de Sajambre to Vierdes going through Pio. This one was so narrow and winding I did not attempt it. Oseja has two restaurants, the food is good but its not easy to understand them or be understood by the  people who run them. They talk very fast and the accent is very sharp. Takes a while to get your ear in.

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Access road 5 - Oseja de Sajambre to Soto de Sajambre. Again very narrow and winding and I did not attempt it. I will see if I can hire a very small car before I go back and see these places. May be more peaceful if folks can't get there.

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Access road 6 - Los Beyos Gorge to Valle de Angón. The gorge, on the N-625, is magnificent but so far I have not been able to find the road up to Valle de Angón

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Access road 7 - Just east of Cangas de Onís to Real Sitio de Covadonga. At the top of the road there is a cave and the Basilica de Vergin de Covadonga and a hotel. Just before there is a turn off on the left to the lakes of Lagos de Covadonga but when I was there in August 2010 the road was closed to private vehicles for repairs. One had to take their bus. The whole road was packed with people and vehicles. May be nice off-season.

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Access road 8a - Arenas de Cabrales to Poncebos. Poncebos is the start of the Cares Way (see road 3). Parking is difficult in summer and at weekends. There are just so many people wanting to start the walk from here. The vast majority of whom are quite unequal the the task and will turn back after only a short way. Never the less they will annoy and get in the way of  the serious walkers and make complete nuisances of themselves. 

Access road 8b - Arenas de Cabrales to Tresviso going through the villages of Tielve and Sotres. This is the route of the blue-green cheese, which is strong and delicious by the way. I hope you will see why I an treating this separately from the road above, even although it starts out the same. There are some lovely walks from Sotres. 

From these eight access roads there are numerous walking, cycling and 4x4 tracks which lead even deeper into the interior. However I must stress that although some older guide books recommend taking your car onto the 4x4 tracks, this is now forbidden. They are restricted to walkers, cyclists, local farmers and licensed 4x4 tour operators only and the Guardia Civil do occasionally patrol.

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The Picos de Europa National Park boasts two impressive visitor's centres, "Pedro Pidal" in Cangas de Onis, Asturias and "Sotama" in the valley of Liébana, Cantabria.  The official website for the Picos de Europa National Park ( only in Spanish ) can be found at http://reddeparquesnacionales.mma.es/parques/picos/index.htm 

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Walking in the Picos de Europa - The walking here is out of this world. CLICK HERE for details of the walks I recommend together with GPS coordinates.

Other Useful Links

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