Northern Spain’s side of the Pyrenees mountain range has a wealth of scenic and challenging hiking trails. The GR11 “Senda Pirenaica” hiking trail and its north side French counterpart, the GR10, provide a complete Atlantic to Mediterranean crossing for the ambitious and backpacked hiker, supported by a series of lodges. For those looking to mix up some outdoor with other activities, it is very straightforward to pick a base town and head out on day hikes. Here are a few ideas.

Pick a Park

Spain maintains a series of national and regional parks along the south side of the Pyrenees. Two that provide a range of environments in the central Pyrenees are the Ordesa y Monte Perdido National Park (https://www.turismodearagon.com/en/ficha/ordesa-y-monte-perdido/) and the Aigüestortes National Park and Estany de Sant Maurici (https://www.vallboi.cat/en/aiguestortes). In both cases, a hire car works best to access the trailheads, although note that in the Summer season and Easter holidays, vehicle entry at Ordesa is restricted to buses (https://ordesabus.com) provided into the park from Torla. There is an excellent topographical map produced by Mapas de Espana that you can download and which provides trackable navigation.

Ordesa National Park

The Ordesa National Park is a 2-hour drive northeast from Zaragoza. I stayed in the town of Torla, on the west side of the park, which has plenty of accommodation options and good restaurants, as well as a park visitor center (https://www.ordesa.net/oficinas-informacion/) where you can pick up a trail map. There are plenty of trailheads around the park perimeter.

Refugio de Goriz. I started with one of the most popular, straightforward yet visually impressive hikes, along the roughly east-west Ordesa Valley, from the Pradera parking lot to the Cola de Caballo waterfall and then to the Refugio de Góriz, 11.6 km away and almost 1,000 m up.

This is a full day out and back hike. The main trail starts out east along the Ordesa Valley with a steady climb through the woods on the north side of the Araza River. There is the option to take the Senda de los Cazadores trail which runs along the southern edge of the valley – watch for the signpost taking you right at the east end of the Pradera parking lot, where you cross south over the river. This trail has a steeper start so is better done going east, with the return along the main trail.

The main trail ascends past a series of minor waterfalls – the Cascada del Estrecho is worth a break – until the valley opens out into a high meadow that is well occupied by the local cattle and their bells.

You hike along this meadow trail until you reach the Cola de Caballo waterfall, a popular climbing location.

Taking a right over the footbridge at the base of the waterfall, you’ll find a trail intersection that leads you on zigzag paths up the east side of the valley wall to the head of the valley, and then north to the Goriz Refuge. The trail narrows as it goes up the side, with some steep sections (hiking poles will help) but little exposure.

At the top of the trail, the Ordesa Valley lies beneath you.

It’s another steady uphill hike to the refuge. More ambitious multi-day trekkers can use this as an overnight.

At my moderate pace, this was about 4 hours from the Pradera parking lot to the Refuge and the same back. The Senda de los Cazadores trail was closed for repairs as of May 2023 but may well be open for the summer season.

Puerto de Bujaruelo. Another interesting trail that starts out from the San Nicolas de Bujaruelo Refuge, a 9-km drive north of Torla, which takes you north east to the French border on the GR-T 30 trail.

From the refuge parking lot, you cross the River Ara over the stone bridge and head northeast uphill, following the signs for the Puerto de Bujaruelo, at the French border. You can also head northwest along Bujaruelo Valley on the signposted Santiago de Compostela pilgrim trail.

The top of the initial climb gives great views over Bujaruelo and the ranges to the west. The Otal Valley, shown below, is another, flatter hiking alternative west of the Bujaruelo Refuge.

The snow in Mid-May was still present along the trails leading east along the Barranco de Lapazosa, up to the pass. From the Puerto de Bujaruelo, you can head for the Sarradets refuge and the Breche de Rolande, or into the Gavarnie valley. You could also take a counter-clockwise loop via the Bernatuara Lake and Sandaruelo Refuge to return to the Bujaruelo Refuge.

Other Trails

There are other great hikes in the Ordesa park, including the north-south Aniscio Canyon, accessible from the south of the park at San Urbez church (off the HU-31 highway, parking at La Tella). This wooded trail runs along the Bellos River to Fuen Blanco, from where you can connect with a trail to the Goriz Refuge or to the Pineta Refuge – which is road accessible if someone can collect you.

Logistics

Both parks maintain useful websites and you should also download the Mapas de España app, produced by the Centro Nacional de Información Geográfica, which provides high-resolution topo maps with GPS based tracker to assist navigation.

The Ordesa Valley hike parking lot (La Pradera) is closed to private vehicles in the Summer, Easter and October bank holiday, replaced with bus service from Torla per the https://ordesabus.com website.

At Ordesa, I stayed at the Hotel Edelweiss, which was a comfortable family-run place with good breakfasts. La Cocinilla is a great place for dinner, and the El Taillon Pizzeria is a popular local bar/restaurant with good salads and pizza. You should ensure you stock up on your hiking essentials – water, snacks etc – at a supermarket on the drive in to Ordesa. There are supermarkets in Ordesa but they respect local opening times.