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 (review here: https://www.aerotrekka.com/hiking-spanish-pyrenees-ordesa/) and the Aigüestortes National Park and Estany de Sant Maurici (https://parcsnaturals.gencat.cat/en/xarxa-de-parcs/aiguestortes/inici/ and https://www.vallboi.cat/en/aiguestortes). In both cases, a hire car works best to access the trailheads, although note that vehicle entry inside the Aigüestortes park is restricted to buses and taxis. There is an excellent topographical map produced by Mapas de Espana that you can download and which provides trackable navigation.

Aigüestortes National Park

The Aigüestortes (Twisted Waters) National Park is a 3-hour drive northeast from Zaragoza. I stayed in the town of Erill la Vall, one of a set of towns in the Vall de Boi, on the west side of the park. You can also access the Estany (lake) de Sant Maurici region of the park via the town of Espot from the east side.

The park is a set of high, rugged lake-filled valleys and navigation between the lakes is well signposted. The two west side trails covered here have public parking, although the Vall de Boi is well served by public transit and taxis.

Presa de Cavallers – Refugi Ventosa i Cavell Trail. This is a scenic and rocky out and back hike to the Ventosa i Cavell refuge, that overlooks Estany Negre (Black Lake), a 9-km. round trip with a 350m climb up. Driving in on the L-500 via the Caldes de Boi park entrance, you start at the dam at the south end of Cavallers Reservoir, walk north along its east side, and then enter a meadow before climbing past the Riumalo waterfall.

This is a very rocky trail which makes for slower going, and hiking poles come in handy for the balance challenged. The trail is however well marked, and where the path is less clear and winding between rocks, look for wooden stakes with yellow paint.

The view over Estany Negre from the refuge is very impressive.

Once at the refuge, you could then hike out to some of the surrounding lakes – Estany Xic is the closest. You can park at the Presa de Cavallers parking lot below the dam, which is a popular day hike starting point.

Sant Nicolau River Trail to Aigüestortes Plateau. This is a more gradual and wooded dirt trail out and back along the Sant Nicolau River to the Aigüestortes Plateau, a 12.6 km round trip with a 430m climb. You can park at the La Molina parking lot (https://goo.gl/maps/qEF3SfuNdqWgzvHk8), just off the L-500 road, about 6 km north of Barruera.

The hike starts out on a steady wooded uphill trail along the north side of the Sant Nicolau River. You can return along the south side for some variety – note this trail intersection on the way out where you take the left trail over the river following signs for the Aigüestortes Plateau – the right trail fork is where you will be returning from on the way back.

You’ll pass the 12th century Sant Nicolau chapel shortly before reaching Estany de Llebrata, the one lake along the route.

The trail runs along the north side of Estany de Llebrata before crossing over the tarmac service road and then taking another uphill push past the Sant Esprit waterfall to the plateau, located in a large wooded valley.

The Aigüestortes Plateau has an overlook platform at Sant Esprit, restrooms and a park information center. It’s also a popular pick up/ drop off point for the bus and taxi services should you wish to go further into the park or to be collected from a cross-park hike.

On the return trail, hike back the way you came and then turn onto on the tarmac road running along the north side of Estany de Llebrata. At the west end of Estany de Llebrata, look for a trail and a river footbridge going left from the road. This trail, the Ruta de la Lludriga, climbs uphill onto an open hillside before heading southwest. You have good views over the Sant Nicolau river valley to your right, before dropping down to rejoin the main trail at the intersection mentioned earlier.

Other Trails

The trails described here barely cover the extensive network available to the determined hiker and summarized here: (https://parcsnaturals.gencat.cat/en/xarxa-de-parcs/aiguestortes/gaudeix-del-parc/guia-de-visita/itineraris/ or https://www.vallboi.cat/en/rutes). Other great hikes in the Aigüestortes park, include a continuation trail from the Aiguestortes Plateau east to the Estany Long Refuge and Ernest Mallafre Refuge. Further south of the Sant Nicolau River, there is another recommended trail that runs between Taill and Estany del Pesso. Also recommended is a shorter loop trail from Durro village, the Durro wildlife route. The Boi valley also has a number of Romanesque churches (https://www.vallboi.cat/es/romanic) from the 11th-12th centuries that have hikeable routes. If you are coming to the park from the east, you could base yourself at Espot and explore the trails from the Sant Maurici lake side.

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. There is a park office in Boi at (Carrer els, Carrer Graieres 2 https://goo.gl/maps/2P1YQiBsNVWM4Tux8) and a regional tourism office in Barruera (Passeig Sant Feliu, 43), that hand out trail maps and can advise on the latest local transportation options around the park.

You can access trailheads inside the park via scheduled summertime bus service or the Vall de Boi Taxi Association (https://www.vallboi.cat/en/how-arribe).

I stayed at the Hostal La Placa in Erill la Vall, which worked out well with comfortable rooms and a good breakfast. There are plenty of hotel options in Boi and Taull across the valley, and you can also stay in Barruera, which is the main town serving the valley. Barruera also has the only gas station – fuel ahead of entering the valley as it isn’t open all the time. There are plenty of year-round restaurant options, try El Caliu Taull (Carrer de Freixanes 11, Taull) or Ca de Xoquin (Placa Major 1, Durro). Barruera has a number of cafes and restaurants, and a good craft beer bar (La Birra es Bella, Passeig Sant Feliu 35).