Map of Somiedo Natural Park

Somiedo Natural Park covers 291 km² in south-western Asturias, on the border with León. It is organised into four valleys running north from the Cantabrian Mountains, and understanding them is the quickest way to orient yourself: almost everything worth visiting sits in one of them.

The four valleys

Río Somiedo valley	Pola de Somiedo, Gúa, Caunedo, Veigas, La Riera AS-227 from Aguasmestas
Valle del Lago	Valle del Lago Turn-off from Pola de Somiedo
Saliencia	Saliencia, La Peral AS-227 towards the La Farrapona pass
Pigüeña valley	Villar de Vildas, Éndriga Turn-off at Aguasmestas

Pola de Somiedo is the main village and the reference point on the map: the local roads to Valle del Lago, Saliencia and La Peral all start there.

Where the lakes are

The glacial lakes fall into two groups. Lago del Valle, the largest glacial lake in Asturias, lies at the head of its own valley and is reached on foot from the village of Valle del Lago. The Saliencia lakes —La Cueva, Cerveriz, La Mina and Calabazosa— sit high above Saliencia, and the shortest approach starts at the La Farrapona pass.

The trails on the map

The 13 waymarked routes in the park, shortest to longest:

• Accessible Path — 2 km, 1h
• Braña de Sousas route — 3 km, 1h 30min (PR.AS - 16.1)
• Castro route — 4 km, 1h 30min (PR.AS - 13)
• Braña de Mumián route — 6.5 km, 2h 15min (PR.AS - 11)
• Valle de Pigüeña route — 6 km, 2h 15min (PR.AS - 14.1)
• Lago del Valle route — 6 km, 2h 30min (PR.AS - 15.1)
• El Cornón route — 7 km, 4h 30min (PR.AS - 10)
• Brañas de Saliencia route — 8 km, 3h 15min (PR.AS - 12)
• El Puerto – Valle del Lago route — 9.5 km, 4h 30min (PR.AS - 16)
• Real Camín de la Mesa – La Bustariega route — 9 km, 3h (GR - 100)
• La Peral – Villar de Vildas route — 13 km, 5h 15min (PR.AS - 14)
• Somiedo Lakes route — 14 km, 4h 30min (PR.AS - 15)
• Camín Real de la Mesa route — 20.5 km, 7h (GR - 101)

Getting there

The main access is the AS-227, which enters the concejo at Aguasmestas from the road between Oviedo and Belmonte de Miranda and climbs the valley to Pola de Somiedo and the Somiedo pass. From the south you come in from León over the Somiedo pass, and from the east from Teverga over the La Farrapona pass, which closes often in winter.