Santelices to La Engaña Tunnel [Burgos] Tunnel Engaña La to Santelices

NIPO: 0034 947 13 80 10 80 13 947 0034 Burgos, with the “valles pasiegos”. “valles the with Burgos,

Valdeporres): de (Pedrosa Valdeporres de Merindad of Council City •

the Cantabrian range, conecting Pedrosa de Valdeporres, in in Valdeporres, de Pedrosa conecting range, Cantabrian the

0034 947 13 14 44/947 13 10 04 10 13 44/947 14 13 947 0034

was officially scrapped 0n 1984) and it crossed sie to side side to sie crossed it and 1984) 0n scrapped officially was

Vieja: la Castilla de Merindad de Villarcayo of Council City •

It was built for the Burgos-Mediterranean line (although it it (although line Burgos-Mediterranean the for built was It TELEPHONES OF INTEREST: OF TELEPHONES

LAS MERINDADES MERINDADES LAS

tunnel in until recently, although it was never used. used. never was it although recently, until Spain in tunnel

DL: The tunnel, which is 6,974 m long, was the longest railway railway longest the was long, m 6,974 is which tunnel, The

NATURE TRAIL NATURE

pathways is also your responsibility. responsibility. your also is pathways

is Villarcayo de Merindad de Castilla la Vieja. la Castilla de Merindad de Villarcayo is

leave everything as you found it. The conservation of these these of conservation The it. found you as everything leave

Bureba and Páramos to the South. The capital of the region region the of capital The South. the to Páramos and Bureba

experience. We only ask one thing of you: do not forget to to forget not do you: of thing one ask only We experience.

the province of Álava to the East and the counties of Ebro, La La Ebro, of counties the and East the to Álava of province the

ney, along with recommendations to make the most of this this of most the make to recommendations with along ney,

North-West, with the province of Vizcaya to the North-East, North-East, the to Vizcaya of province the with North-West,

- jour the for map the and Trail Nature Merindades Las of

the Autonomous Community of to the West and and West the to Cantabria of Community Autonomous the

joy the trip. In this brochure you will find a brief description description brief a find will you brochure this In trip. the joy

of the in Castile-Leon. It borders with with borders It Castile-Leon. in Burgos of province the of

- en to keys the you offer and them visit to you invite We

Las Merindades is a county that takes up the northern part part northern the up takes that county a is Merindades Las

part of the unique cultural landscape of our country. our of landscape cultural unique the of part

discover the villages, sights, traditions and people that are are that people and traditions sights, villages, the discover

diversity and beauty of our precious natural heritage, and and heritage, natural precious our of beauty and diversity

LANDSCAPE AND NORTHERN MEADOWS NORTHERN AND LANDSCAPE

These routes take us to the countryside to discover the bio the discover to countryside the to us take routes These -

HALFWAY BETWEEN A MEDITERRANEAN MEDITERRANEAN A BETWEEN HALFWAY

le trails and traditional routes, for public use and enjoyment. and use public for routes, traditional and trails le

- catt tracks, railway as such infrastructures transport former

and the Environment’s Nature Trails Program aims to restore restore to aims Program Trails Nature Environment’s the and

Since 1993 the Ministry for Agriculture and Fisheries, Food Food Fisheries, and Agriculture for Ministry the 1993 Since

of Spain of

Trails

Nature

Guide to the to Guide

NORTHWESTERN PENINSULAR NORTHWESTERN SECTOR

SECTOR NORTHWESTERN PENINSULAR NATURE TRAIL SANTANDER-MEDITERRÁNEO LAS MERINDADES SECTION 1. The route begins at a rest area nest to the railway tun- 6. The route ends next to a logging facility in the town of PUENTEDEY, A TOWN BUILT OVER A NATURAL nel and the remains of Portoles, one of the villages built Santelices, at the old railway intersection. Part of the la- BRIDGE for the settlement of the workers in La Engaña tunnel. yout of said railway has been reused for this nature trail. The village takes it name from the company in charge of Seven kilometres on from the starting point of the the tunnel construction. Merindades Natural Trail arrives to the town of Puen- 2. Not far form the starting point, the trail left on the left tedey, which, with fewer than one hundred inhabi- the remains of the former church and school, and af- tants, belongs to the municipality of Merindad de Val- ter a few metres, Pedrosa de Valdeporres’ train station. deporres. This town attracts tourists in the thousands Next to the station lie the ruined houses where the tun- every year, since it has been built on a rock natural nel’s engineers used to live. bridge more than 15 m high. 3. From this point, the trail runs among oaks (Quercus sp.), The natural beauty and tranquillity that surrounds this popplars (Populus sp.), hawthornes (Crataegus mono- population has been described by its visitors as a place guna), thron trees (Acacia sp.), pine trees (Pine sp.) and with stunning natural beauty where they can get away alder trees (Alnus glutinosa), between the impressive from big city stressful life and enjoy nature. The natu- slopes of the surrounding mountains. ral bridge on which Puentedey is built has popularly 4. A little further on it continues under the bridge that been called God’s Finger or God’s Bridge, although, in OJO GUAREÑA NATURAL MONUMENT links both sides of the town of San Martín de Porre truth, it has been carved by the strength of the waters of the Nela river. 5. The path goes on, with the Sierra de Caliza to the right The Guareña River enters this limestone massif, origi- and the Nela River to the left. It reach a bridge, which nating the Karstic Complex of Ojo Guareña. Besides, the population is surrounded by a large wall crosses road BU-526 near Pedrosa, and then the road which was built for military purposes. In fact, such wall heads south passing by the old Palacio de las Rozas. s. Almost 100 km in length, this complex is the largest in is one of the most important historical monument in Spain and one of the biggest in the world. 5. The route goes on along a wide road heading south, up the town, the Porras Manor, built in late 15th century. to the old train station, a kilometre away from the end, now rehabilitated and turned into a house. It houses a significant cultural heritage, although only the Chapel of San Bernabé and the Cueva del Ayun- 6. Near the end of the route the trail crosses a bridge over tamiento are open to the public. The Ojo del Guare- BU-561 road. ña descent, running through the existing network of marked trails.

Former Palacio de las Rozas Ojo Guareña Natural Monument La Engaña Tunnel 6,9 0 m 75 m Tunnel 1,30 h 6,9 km Old station 6 Tunnel La Engaña Tunnel 5 Upward gradient gradient Upward gradient Downward ROUTE LENGTH TIME 4 Castle San MartínCastle de Porres 3 MIDE Chapel la Ribera 1 2 1 1 2 4 Pedrosa Pedrosa de Valdeporres 1 Point of interest station Santelices Bridge km Santelices Town 0 m 1 800 750 700 650 600 Harshness of natural environment Harshness of natural route the along Guidance difficulty Route needed effort of Amount 3 5 2 7 6 0

Feature of environmental SECTOR NATURE TRAIL Starting point Tunnel Bridge interest NORTHWESTERN PENINSULAR SANTANDER- End of trail Rest area Hermitage Nature MEDITERRÁNEO. Trails LAS MERINDADES SECTION Train station Underpass Castle