Hiking in Spain on Routes other than the Camino's.

[Larrydemaster]

Hello hikers.

I am starting this thread in hopes that some of you may be able to help. We walked the Camino Frances in 2013 and loved it. Then we hiked through the pueblos blancos in Southern Spain in 2014. This year we made Olocau in NE Spain our base and hiked and also attended FALLAS in Valencia.

We would love to do a through hike in the La Cabrera region of Leon province, but are not having any success finding routes or much information on through hiking.

Have any of you hiked there? Do local or regional trails exist? Is is feasible to hike from town to town and find lodging? I realize there will not be albergues, but would hope to find some type of lodging in small hotels, over bars, in private homes, etc. Language is not an issue as my wife is fluent in Spanish and I am learning.

Any assistance would really be appreciated. A regional information website for Leon would help. Thanks in advance for any/all assistance.

Buen Camino!

 

[stratophile]

The GR10 goes through there. I don't know the area myself first-hand, but you should be able to find lots of info on the GR10 online. Here's a link that might be useful for initially exploring the options in the region:

http://hiking.waymarkedtrails.org/en/?zoom=14&lat=40.86619&lon=-3.60567&hill=0#routes

If you haven't used this site before, explore the map until you are looking at the region you are interested in, then click on 'Routes' in the bottom-right of the screen. That will open a window showing hiking routes in that area. Change your zoom level and/or the map coordinates to give different route options (ie, the more zoomed-in you are, the more precise the listing of routes will be). You can even download GPS routes for the trails in which you are interested.

Incredibly handy site. Also great for bicycle routes - just toggle the site using the options at the top-right so that it shows bike routes instead of hiking trails. It uses OpenStreetMap data (I'm a contributor).

 

[wayfarer]

Brilliant website, thank you.

 

[Castilian]

As far as I know, there isn't a GR recorring all La Cabrera. There are some PR trails like the one heading to La Baña lake or the one heading to Truchillas lake but I don't think they are too useful for your aim. There isn't either too much accommodation in La Cabrera. Take a look at this web to get an idea of the villages that have some accommodation (don't forget to verify whether the accommodations quoted on the link are opened on your travel date as some villages have just one accommodation and most villages don't have any accommodation at all):

http://www.vivaleon.com/turismo_rural_comarca_de_la_cabrera_leon.htm

Don't forget that most towns in La Cabrera are (very) small (all of them have less than 1000 inhabitants) and services are limited. Some areas of La Cabrera are minning zones (you can find them, for example, in San Pedro de Trones or Benuza).

Regarding language, you'll be fine with Spanish but you'll find Galician speakers in Puente de Domingo Flórez and might find some people speaking a dialect of Leonese called Cabreirés in other areas of La Cabrera as well as people using some local words when speaking in Spanish.

Regarding webs with tourist info about La Cabrera:

http://www.vivaleon.com
http://www.turisleon.com
http://www.asodebi.com
(the above web is about El Bierzo but Puente de Domingo Flórez and Benuza, although in La Cabrera, joined the comarca of El Bierzo -too-)
http://www.lacabreraleon.es

For info about Natural protected areas in La Cabrera (and in the rest of Castile and Leon) like La Baña lake or Truchillas Lake, you can take a look at this web:

http://www.patrimonionatural.org

 

[Castilian]

The GR10 goes through there.

No, it doesn't. You mixed the municipality of La Cabrera, in the Autonomous Community of Madrid with the comarca natural de La Cabrera, in the province of León. The OP wants to hike the comarca in León province.

 

[stratophile]

No, it doesn't. You mixed the municipality of La Cabrera, in the Autonomous Community of Madrid with the comarca natural de La Cabrera, in the province of León. The OP wants to hike the comarca in León province.

<shameface> Thanks for the correction!

 

[Larrydemaster]

Thank you all for the useful information. The map website is fantastic! We will explore the others very soon.

This forum is so helpful! We started using it in 2012 when we planned our Camino Frances and all of you never let anyone down. You're awesome!

Buen Camino

 

[Pelegrin]

Larry
La Cabrera is a very interesting place (and wild), but as Castilian says I don´t think it would be possible to find accommodation there.

Castilian.

When I visited La Cabrera the only place where I found astur-leones speakers was in La Baña. Do you know some other village in León ?

 

[Larrydemaster]

Pelegrin - Thanks much! This will definitely help with our planning.