- Region: Asturias
- Declared a Natural Park: 2002.
- Declaered UNESCO biosphere reserve: 2012
- Park surface area: 35,793 hectares.
- Towns and Villages in the area: Teverga, Quirós, Lena and Yernes y Tameza.
Points of interest
Peña Ubiña – La Mesa natural Park (in Asturian Parque natural de Les Ubiñes-La Mesa) is a natural park located in the central area of the Cantabrian mountain range. The Ubiña massif is more than 2400 meters high with the Picos del Fontán and Peña Ubiña at 2417 meters above sea level. The valleys are formed by the basins of the Taja, Valdecarzana and Val de Sampedro / Páramo river.
As well as the main Natural Park area there are other protected areas of great cultural, wildlife and botanical interest:
- Somiedo regional hunting reserve.
- Protected landscape of Peña Ubiña.
- Partially declared a Site of Community Importance of Peña Ubiña.
- Montovo-La Mesa Place of Community Importance.
- Partially declared a Special Protection Area for the Birds of Ubiña-La Mesa.
- Protected landscape of Picu Caldoveiru.
- Natural monument of the Ports of Marabio.
Find a hotel in the Peña Ubiña – La Mesa Natural Park
Booking.comFlora
The entire park is an area of great biodiversity and is in an excellent state of conservation with a third of its surface occupied by forests of high ecological value. The forest mass of the park is made up mostly of beech accompanied by sessile oak, birch, yew, ash, maple and alder.
Scrubland, valleys and pastures contain junipers, laurel and holly. The Asturian dafodil (Narcissus asturiensis) and gentians are among my favorite flowering plants.
Special mention should be made of the lagoon vegetation areas, which, although small in size, have great ecological wealth. These areas are made up of ponds, lagoons and peat bogs. Of the latter, those in the area of Lake El Llegu in Lena stand out.
Fauna
The presence of the Cantabrian brown bear stands out and also within the park you can find species such as wild boar (Sus scrofa), roe deer (Capreolus capreolus), red deer (Cervus elaphus ) and chamois (Rupicapra pyrenaica). Other mammals present are Iberian wolf, fox, marten, genet, wildcat, badger, otter and desman .
Also present are the birds that normally inhabit wooded areas such as the Cantabrian grouse (Tetrao urogallus cantabricus) and the black woodpecker (Dryocopus martius)
The birds that inhabit the high mountain areas are woth a mention such as the alpine sparrow (Montifringilla nivalis), alpine accentor (Prunella collaris), grey wheatear (Oenanthe oenanthe), alpine pipit (Anthus spinoletta), wallcreeper (Tichodroma muraria) and grey partridge (Perdix perdix) .
Among the raptors present, griffon vulture (Gyps fulvus), golden eagle (Aquila chrysaetos), Egyptian vulture (Neophron percnopterus), goshawk (Accipiter gentilis) and peregrine falcon (Falco peregrinus) are worth looking out for.
Also in the area
The Peña Ubiña – La Mesa Natural Park is an area of great archaeological value and the Fresnedo Rock Shelters near the town of Fresnedo are worth a visit as are the forts of Focella and Barrio (Teverga), Ricabo and El Collao (Quirós). These sites linked to the Vía de La Carisa and the Visigoth fortifications of Homón de Faro (Lena). There is also the Camino Real del Puerto de la Mesa, a Roman road built on top of a path already used by the first settlers of the area.
Cueva Huerta Natural Monument.
Declared Natural Monument in 2002, this is one of the largest caves in Asturias. It consists of about 15 km of galleries of great speleological interest. Part of the cave can be visited but most of the cave is closed to preserve a colony of bats. Find out about visitng this cave in the information centre (see below)
Information/Visitors Centers
Centro de Información del Parque Natural Las Ubiñas – La Mesa
From this Information centre you can find out all you need to know to get the best out of a visit to the area. Topics covered are Las Ubiñas-La Mesa Biosphere Reserve, Las Ubiñas-La Mesa Natural Park, Natural Monument of the Ports of Marabio and the Cueva Huerta Natural Monument.
Address: In the area of the town of Lena look for Tuiza Riba.
Opening times
Winter – Open weekends, from 10:30 am.
Summer – Open from 10:30 am.
Closed on Mondays
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