Macizo de Andara

Overview

 

The Macizo de Andara is the easternmost of the three Picos de Europa ranges. The range culminates with the Morra de Lechugales summit at 2444 m, which means a good deal lower than the high summits of the Macizo Los Urielles or El Cornion. The mountains, too, are less “wild” and rugged, simply less “Picos” than the summits of the two other ranges. There is no Naranjo de Bulnes – like peak in the Andara Range, no summit to be compared with, e.g., Pena Santa de Castilla or Torre Ceredo.

Nevertheless Macizo de Andara is a beautiful and enthralling area. It is like the El Cornion range a huge and oblique karst plateau with many “Vegas” and “Jous”, glaciation features, karst holes, hollows, caves, withered limestone slabs and many, many old and abandoned mines.

 

This karst plateau rises from north to south and ends high above the southern Liebana area and the little town of Potes. Near perpendicular rock faces are dropping down several hundred meters of altitude difference to the woods, fields and vineyards of Liebana. When viewed from Potes, the Macizo de Andara is a huge, impressive rock wall, extending from east to west over a distance of about 10 km!

Whereas the lovely Liebana region, located on the southern lee side of the Picos de Europa and thus sheltered from most of the northern and northwestern bad weather, is almost a Mediterranean region with vineyards and southern fruits, the rather harsh north side of Macizo de Andara is used for livestock farming. Some alpine Majadas are – as in the two other Picos ranges – still in use.

For the mountaineer the Andara range offers interesting hikes and long traverses, sometimes on cairned or not cairned off-trail routes, flavored with some rock scrambling and, from time to time, some route finding problems. You will often find yourself completely alone, accompanied only by some high soaring vultures or some very shy chamois.

Morra di Lechugales, Picos de Jierro

Andara as seen from El Cable

Picos de Jierro

As far as I know the Andara region is not a region for climbing, like the Macizo Los Urielles. Ski touring and snow shoeing is possible, as long as there is sufficient snow.

The Liebana valley offers abundand half day and day hikes below the towering south faces of Andara peaks, starting and ending at the small and nice villages in the surrounding of Potes like Lon, Brez or Mongrovejo.

Potes

Potes

Potes

Potes itself is a phantastic little medieval town, where the famous Orujo and the Crema de Orujo de Liebana comes from.
Around Potes you find, too, very old churches of the pre-medieval and medieval times, thus adding an interesting cultural element to the hikes and outings within the area.

Santa Maria de Lebena

Inside Santa Maria de Lebena

San Toribio near Potes

San Miguel

The region of Arenas de Cabrales is famous for is cheese production, among them the well known Queso de Cabrales, a strong blue mould cheese which mature inside caves with different mould spores.

Getting There

The main villages of the area are:

Panes

Arenas de Cabrales

Potes

Potes

Desfiladero de la Hermida

Jito Escarandi and mine road to Andara

 

You reach Panes from the highway number A 8, the “autovia Cantabrica” from the exit Unquera by following road number N-621 to Panes.

If you continue on N-621 through the magnificent Desfiladero de la Hermida you reach Potes, too.

Coming from the south use N-625 from the Leon region to Cistierna and continue on N-621 to Riaño, Potes and Panes.

To reach Arenas de Cabrales take road number AS-114 from Panes. The same road goes from Cangas de Onis (N-634 and N-625 from the highway exit Ribadesella via Arriondas) to Arenas de Cabrales.

From Potes many minor roads are leading to the villages and trailheads south of Macizo de Andara.

The main northern trailhead, Jito de Escarandi, can be reached by using road number AS-264 from Arenas de Cabrales to Poncebos. Turn there on road number CA-1 to Tielve and Sotres. At Sotres, follow the road in the direction to Tresviso (still CA-1) until you reach the col of Jito de Escarandi with its hiker parking area (free parking).

Valle de Andara with Pico Samelar, La Rasa de la Inagotable and Pico del Grajal de Abajo

Picas del Hou Sin Tierre and Cueto Teyau as seen from Pico Valdominguero

The next international airports are:

Aeropuerto de Asturias near Aviles, Gijon and Oviedo

Aireportua de Bilbao

The railway company FEVE runs the coastal railway line between Santander and Oviedo thus serving the coastal villages north of the Picos de Europa.

The ALSA company runs the local bus lines.

Accommodation

You find all types of accommodation at:

Arenas de Cabrales

Sotres

Tielve

Tresviso

Panes

Potes

and many little villages west and northwest of Potes:

Espinama, Pembes, Llaves, Vallejo, Mongrovejo, Tanarrio, Brez, Camaleňo, Lon, Beares, Argüebanes, Turieno, Rases, Colio, Pendes ….

Duje valley

Caseton de Andara

The only mountain hut in the Macizo de Andara is:

Caseton de Andara with 20 places, food and drinks; guarded throughout summer

Geography & Summits

 

The limitation of the Macizo de Andara is as follows:

the Liebana valley to the south

the valley of the Rio Duje and the Aliva col (Puertos de Aliva) to the west

the Sotres – Tresviso – Bejes road to the north with the huge col Jito Escarandi

the Desfiladero de la Hermida, the Rio Deva gorge between Panes and Potes to the east.

I´m not sure whether the low ranges between the Cabrales valley to the north and the Sotres – Tresviso road with Jito Escarandi to the south, called Sierra Cocón, Sierra Nedrina and Sierra de Llamea, belong geographically to the Andara region. The Spanish Wikipedia article on Macizo de Andara however clearly says: no. Jito de Escarandi is the northern limitation of the Macizo.

La Rasa de la Inagotable and La Junciana

Pico de Samelar

Rock window near Pico del Grajal de Arriba

The main part of the Andara region belongs to the province of Cantabria. The western parts are within Principado de Asturias. The province boundary crosses the Jito de Escarandi and runs north – south on the ridge to Pico Valdominguero and Pica del Jierru. South of Morra de Lechugales the boundary bends to the west and goes down to the Rio Duje, crossing the valley and heading to Pico Tesorero within the Macizo Los Urielles.

The two main ranges of Macizo de Andara run from east (Cueto La Lomba) to west (Pica del Jierro) and from north (Pica de Huente Soles near Jito Escarandi) to south (Cumbres Avenas), thus building a T-shape with the meeting point at Pica del Jierro.

Hoyo Evangelista

Puertos de Aliva, Cumbres Avena

There are several huge “Valle”, “Canales” and “Jous” or “Hoyos” within Macizo de Andara, among them:

the beautiful Valle de Andara between Pico Valdominguero and Pica del Jierro / Picos de Grajales,
the high Hoyo del Evangelista between the Grajales peaks and Silla del Caballo Cimero,
the Canal de las Arredondas, dropping down from the Grajales peak to the village of Lon – one of the long and demanding southern ascents into the area,
the Vega del Hoyo Oscuro between La Rasa de la Inagotable, La Sagrada Corazon and Pico Samelar and
the Canal de San Carlos between La Sagrada Corazon and the Samelar ridges.

Valle de Andara, Picos Valdominguero and Soriano

Valle de Andara, Pica del Jierro

Summits of the Macizo de Andara (minor and secondary summits are in Italics):

East to West main ridge

North to South main ridge

 

Traverse Routes and Ski Routes

As in the other two Macizos the Andara range bears some main traverse and loop routes:

1. Jito Escarandi – Pico Valdominguero – Collaú Valdominguero – Valle de Andara – Caseton de Andara – Jito Escarandi


2. Jito Escarandi – Caseton de Andara – Collado de Mojon – Pico de Grajal de Arriba – Col between Morra de Lechugales and Silla del Caballo Cimero – Canal de Lechugales – villages of Brez / Mongrovejo / Tanarrio (some parts not marked, off trail parts!)


3. Jito Escarandi – Caseton de Andara – Collado de Mojon – Canal de las Arredondas – village of Lon


4. Jito Escarandi – Caseton de Andara – Collado de San Carlos – Canal de San Carlos – villages of Colio or Argüebanes


5. Jito Escarandi – Caseton de Andara – Collado de San Carlos – Pico de Samelar – La Hendida – Collado de la Llaguna – Collado de las Caecinas – village of Colio
   

Pico del Grajal de Abajo

Pico del Grajal de Arriba

Main ski routes are:

1. Jito Escarandi – Caseton de Andara – Collado de Mojon – La Rasa de la Inagotable


2. Brez or Lon – Canal de las Arredondas - Collado de Mojon – La Rasa de la Inagotable


3. Jito Escarandi – Caseton de Andara – La Sagrada Corazon and / or Pico de Samelar;
   Another ski route uses the north slopes of Pico de Samelar to reach the top of this main ski summit of the Andara range.


4. Lon or Argüebanes – Canal de San Carlos – Collado de San Carlos – La Sagrada Corazon and / or Pico de Samelar

Many other ski routes are possible due to the more soft landscape within the Macizo de Andara.

Geology

 

The sedimentation of the limestone series which forms nowadays the Picos de Europa, is a very old one. During the Carboniferous period, some 359 to 299 million years ago, the two main continental areas, Laurussia and Gondwana, collided slowly, thus causing the Variscan mountain building.

During this orogeny marine basins came into existence, so-called foreland basins, where the sheer weight of the compressed and uplifted new mountain masses forced down the lithosphere at its outer rims. In one of these marine foreland basins the limestone series of Picos de Europa came into existence.

 

Stratigraphic column of Picos de Europa

As the Variscan Orogeny was still going on, the Picos limestones were involved in the orogenetic processes not a long time after their sedimentation. They were compressed from an extension of about 150 km along the old Gondwana continental margin to an extend on about 15 km nowadays. In addition the limestone blocks were first thrusted eastwards, the rotated to the south thus creating a complexe thrust pattern in the whole Picos area and the impressive southern rock faces of Andara massif.

During these early times, possibly in Permian ages, hydrothermal zinc and lead ore deposits form in rock fractures, mainly sphalerite and galena. The largest deposits were found around the Andara valley and west of Puertos de Aliva. Mining started already about 1500 to 2000 b.c. and ended 1989.

Abandoned ore mine in Valle de Andara

Abandoned ore mine in Valle de Andara

Abandoned ore mine in Valle de Andara

As far as the Picos limestones where exposed to atmospherical action, rainwater started its work of karstification, building huge cave systems, hollows and sinkholes called “Jou” (or “Hou” in Asturias) but also small scale features like vertical fluting of rock faces or knifes edge limestones. More recently, glaciations during the ice ages widened the Jous and valleys, creating huge cirques, and “Canales”, valleys and gorges. The actions of ice and rain continue to erode and dissolve the rock, forming the characteristic landscapes we see today.

Red Tape

 

National Park boundaries

The Macizo de Andara is part of the Parque National de los Picos de Europa.

The national park was set up in may 1995 by enlarging its predecessor, the "Parque Nacional de la Montaña de Covadonga" (National Park of the Covadonga Mountains). This one was founded in 1918 to mark the 12th centenary of the famous Battle of Covadonga in 718 (or 722), the ignition point for the long Spanish Reconquista, which ended in 1492 by conquering Granada.

The National Park actually includes a total of 64,660 ha. In July 2003 the Picos de Europa were made a Biosphere Reserve by UNESCO.

The entrance to the national park is free, you need no permits.

Picas del Hou Sin Tierre

Pica del Jierro

Silla del Caballo Cimero

There are the following regulations for the park:

1. Generally respect the nature settings of the park and its cultural and natural values.


2. Respect all plants, animals and minerals, don´t collect / disturb them.


3. Use mainly the trails, roads or cairned routes for your outings in the National Park


4. Take your waste out of the park.


5. No fires within the park boundaries.


6. No fishing and hunting within the park.


7. Follow the advices of the National Park staff.


8. Free camping is not allowed within the park. Bivouac is allowed in zones above 1.600 m from one hour before sunset until one hour after sunrise.


9. No bathing in the lakes and creeks within the park.

Maps & Guide Books

Maps

Picos de Europa; Central and Eastern Massifs (Los Urielles Y Andara); Topographic Map, scale 1 : 25.000 with Hiking Trails; Adrados Ediciones –

the best and most detailed map as far as I know

For more information see the Adrados website (only in Spanish).

A good hiking map, not too detailed but sufficient for simple hikes:

Parque Nacional de Picos de Europa; 2 Mapas Excursionistas, Escala 1 : 40.000, Macizo Central y Oriental; Macizo Occidental; Editorial Alpina

Castillo de Grajal

El Cortés

Guide Books

Standard guide book in English:

Robin Walker: Picos de Europa, Walks and Climbs, Cicerone guide

Spanish publications and more maps can be purchased in the towns and villages round the Picos.

Images

View Macizo de Andara Image Gallery - 54 Images