Somiedo Natural Park

Somiedo covers the Asturian side of the Cantabrian range, a set of steep valleys with glacial lakes at their heads and high summer pasture above. It is the best known place in Spain for Cantabrian brown bears, a small population that has grown slowly over recent decades and is watched at long range at dawn and dusk with a scope. The other distinctive thing here is the teito, a stone hut with a broom-thatched roof built for summer grazing, still standing in numbers around the high pastures. Walking follows old herding tracks, and Lago del Valle is the largest of the lakes. The park covers about 390 square kilometres, and UNESCO made it a biosphere reserve in 2000, partly for the herding traditions.

Highlights

• The teitos - stone huts with broom-thatched roofs on the high pastures.
• Lago del Valle - the largest glacial lake in the park, a walk from Valle de Lago.
• Bear watching - distant dawn and dusk observation from valley viewpoints.
• The branas - summer grazing grounds above the treeline.

When to go

May to October for the walking, with the pastures at their best in June. Bear watching is easiest in spring and again in autumn, when the animals feed hard on fruit before winter, always at first and last light. Valley roads can be snowbound in winter and the higher passes close for stretches at a time.

Practical notes

Bears are watched at long range and most people see nothing; a scope and several patient mornings shift the odds, one afternoon does not. Facilities amount to a few small villages and beds are scarce in August. The weather is Atlantic, wet and grey for long stretches. The walks are steep and frequently muddy.

Nearby

Oviedo is under two hours; the Asturian coast and the Picos lie east.

Key facts