Hiking in Parque Natural De Redes – Asturias

Day 2 of our trip to Asturias in Spain saw us preparing to hike through Parque Natural De Redes.  Parque Natural De Redes is included by UNESCO as a biosphere reserve along with other parks in Asturias (Picos De Europa National Park being one of them also) and is set within the Cantabrian Mountains.

Meeting our guides for the day Mario and Alex from Lobo Nomada at Tierra Del Agua we bundled into the 4×4 taxi which was to drive us up to our starting point for the hike.

The road was steep and narrow with many hairpin bends, at times we seemed to be driving through the cloud for ages.  Eventually we reached our starting point just below the col Collado del Acebal and near to Lagos Ubales at 5,577ft, to put that in perspective Ben Nevis in Scotland is 4,409 ft.

Starting at Lagos Ubales, the view was pretty amazing but quite chilly and windy so we start to make our way back down the mountain.  The hike really was very easy compared to some UK mountains, the path was pleasant and very achievable by most people, it’s not particularly steep and easy under foot.

The highest peak in Parque Natural De Redes is Pico Torres (6,902ft) and offers many decent hiking routes, Mario told me this was a mountain easily achieved by the average hiker and that some of the routes didn’t require any technical climbing knowledge.

We walked down the Arrudos gorge, coming across small buildings where farmers would stay in the summer time to look after their cattle.  Due to the warmer temperatures and its location near the sea the lower mountain range and valley is much greener and rich in fauna compared to that of the UK ranges.

Stopping for lunch and we were treated to an amazing spread of Spanish food, meat pie, Spanish omelette, bread, cured meat, cheese and quince jelly!  To complement this, they had also provided a bottle of red wine and 2 bottles of local cider!  Really puts my normal choice of sausage roll and mars bar to shame!!

Trying not to have the tradition siesta right there and then we packed up and headed back down the valley.  Becoming more populated with trees now and the odd waterfall, this section of the hike was again very beautiful.

After 13km, we were back at Caleao and Tierra del Agua for a much deserved drink!

The whole day was arranged by Lobo Nomada, planning the route, hiring the 4×4 taxi and the guide also.  If you wish to hire your own guide to walk through Parque Natural De Redes, you can expect to pay around €150 with the additional cost of the taxi at around €70.  You can of course walk up to Lagos Ubales from Calaeo but look to add-on around 4-5 hours to your day.

We now moved onto our next hotel Palacio de Cutre in Villamayor, a 16th century manor house situated on the southern slope of the Sueve Range.  Decorated in what felt like a museum almost, with cabinets of dolls, cots and rocking horse, each room is supposedly different, the food was also very nice.

The Palacio is perfectly placed to explore Picos de Europa National Park…