Las Ubiñas-La Mesa Natural Park
Diversity in inland Asturias
Located in the south of Asturias, thanks to its biological wealth and its good state of conservation, this natural park was declared a Biosphere Reserve by UNESCO in 2012. It is a mountainous territory in which the Peña Ubiña massif stands out, the second highest in the region, at over 2,400 metres.
Although it is dominated by beech forests, its surface is home to examples of more than half of the Asturian plant families. The Cantabrian fauna is very well represented in this territory, with species such as the brown bear.The gorge formed by the Val de Sampedro river stands out among the waters that flow through the Las Ubiñas-La Mesa Nature Reserve, where visitors can find Cueva Huerta, declared a Natural Monument.Its landscape has been shaped for centuries by the use of raw materials and resources, primarily through livestock farming. For this reason, in addition to the archaeological and architectural values of the area, there is also its ethnographic wealth, as its population has managed to preserve local traditions and its own crafts, gastronomy and folklore.
Las Ubiñas-La Mesa Natural Park
Asturias (Principality of Asturias)
Asturias (Principality of Asturias):
- Lena
- Teverga
- Quirós
What you need to know
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Cultural information
The has one of the richest rock art sites in the northwestern Iberian Peninsula (Abrigos Rupestres de Fresnedo), with pictorial representations from the Bronze and Iron Ages. It also has the Camino Real de la Mesa and the Vía Carisa, ancient Roman roads that connected the region with the León plateau. In the surrounding villages you can still see good examples of traditional Asturian mountain architecture, such as stone houses with wooden balconies. In San Salvador (Quirós), there is an ethnographic museum dedicated to ancient blast furnaces, where the local tourist office is also located.
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Environmental information
As for its flora, eleven of the 19 series of vegetation that populate Asturias are represented in the Las Ubiñas-La Mesa Natural Park. In addition to the beech forest, there are also oak forests and birch groves. Three examples of endangered flora are preserved in the grassland areas: The Asturias daffodil, the trumpet daffodil and the gentian.As for its fauna, in the Las Ubiñas-La Mesa Natural Park, in addition to the brown bear, species such as the golden eagle, the Egyptian vulture, the otter and the desman can also be found. In addition, the Cueva Huerta Natural Monument is a refuge for several families of bats.
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Information for visits
In summer and at Easter, specific information points open in the area, such as the visitor centre in Tuiza de Arriba, a village in the municipality of Lena (postcode 33628) or the information point located in the recreational area of the Valdemurio reservoir, in the municipality of Quirós (next to the AS-229 road, postcode 33118). Information is also permanently available at the tourist offices of the municipalities in the nature reserve: Lena (calle Marqués de San Feliz 2, 33630 La Pola de Lena), Quirós (carretera AS-229 km 8,4, inside the Ethnographic Museum, 33117 San Salvador) and Teverga (calle Dr. García Miranda 14, 33111 Teverga).
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