The scenery in the Picos de Europa is spectacular. Immense slopes and dramatic gorges, lush green valleys and beautiful forests, crystal clear streams and jagged peaks dominating the horizon. Added to this there is a wonderful variety of flora and fauna with vultures soaring in the skies and mountain pastures filled with a wealth of wild flowers and butterflies. The region is also rich in culture, a traditional style of farming and small settlements of attractive old stone buildings. A brief description of the geography and geology of the area follows along with some of the points of interest to visitors to the area.

The Picos de Europa is clearly defined and divided into three independent massifs known as The Western Massif (El Cornión), The Central Massif (Los Urrieles), and The Eastern Massif (Andara). These are separated from one another and the surrounding mountains by precipitous gorges carved out over thousands of years by the South-North courses of the salmon rivers Sella, Cares, Duje and Deva. Due to its unique outstanding scenery, the Western massif was declared Spain's first national park in 1918. In 1995 the park was extended to include the greater part of the three massifs.

The Picos de Europa is a very beautiful region, but relatively small. In the height of summer it can become very crowded. So as to avoid the crowds we recommend avoiding the month of August for visiting this area, when possible.
Covadonga and the entrance to the Western massif is about 30 minutes drive from Hotel Naranjo de Bulnes and the entrance to the Cares gorge and Bulnes is about a 5 minutes drive.