Parque Natural de las Fuentes Carrionas y Fuente Cobre-Montaña Palentina

Parque Natural de las Fuentes Carrionas y Fuente Cobre-Montaña Palentina covers 97,145 hectares at the northern tip of Palencia province, against the watershed boundary with Asturias and Cantabria. It is the most northerly and highest part of the Castilian plateau: the quartzite and slate ridges of Peña Prieta (2,539 m), Curavacas (2,525 m) and Espigüete (2,450 m) form a barrier that intercepts Atlantic moisture before it reaches the interior. The result is a high mountain landscape with glacial U-valleys, cirques holding glacial tarns and upland grasslands that turn yellow with broom flowers in June. The silence on these high plateaux, broken only by wind and the song of the alpine accentor, is one of the most distinctly clear auditory experiences that Iberian nature can provide.

The park is one of three territories in Spain where the presence of the Cantabrian brown bear (Ursus arctos) is most regularly documented. The western brown bear subpopulation, sharing territory with the Ubiñas park in Asturias, has grown steadily over the past two decades due to hunting restrictions and reduced human pressure in breeding zones. The most recent censuses estimate 30 to 40 individuals in this subpopulation. The best sectors for potential sightings — always incidental and never guaranteed — are the beech and oak forests in the northern sector, particularly in the Carrión and nascent Pisuerga valleys, at dawn or dusk from May to October. Patience, binoculars and static observation from distance are essential.

The park's hydrographic network is extraordinarily rich for its area. The Carrión river rises at Fuente Cobre, 1,800 metres above sea level, and flows south through progressively narrowing gorges reaching over 200 metres deep in the La Pernía canyon. The Pisuerga also rises within the park's interior slopes, around 1,850 metres, with the Pozo de la Oración pool near Brañosera offering one of the most scenically powerful source landscapes: vertical slate walls and a pool of near-black water contrasting with the dark green of the surrounding beech forest. All rivers in the park carry healthy brown trout (Salmo trutta) populations thanks to excellent water chemistry.

Hiking is structured around three long-distance routes crossing the park: the GR-1 (Sendero Histórico), the PR-P 1 (Ruta de los Valles) and a network of shorter local paths. The ascent of Curavacas from Vidrieros (1,100 m) covers 18 km with 1,400 metres of positive elevation change and requires a full day. Peña Prieta, from Cardaño de Abajo, has a 12-km round-trip ridge route with simultaneous views of both slopes. Ski mountaineering and snowshoeing are practised from December to April in the high-altitude cirques; the nearest alpine ski resort is La Fuente del Cobre in Polentinos, with 7 runs and 700 metres of maximum vertical drop.