The accessible path of Pola de Somiedo, an easy and beautiful route.

Those of us who like hiking and the mountains, and who have had children, are always faced with the challenge of finding suitable routes for them. When they are very young the task is much more complicated, especially in mountain areas where almost any route involves some effort.

So, it was a joy to discover the accessible path of Pola de Somiedo, when our youngest son was 3 years old.

Pola de Somiedo is located in the heart of the Natural Park of Somiedo, in Asturias, and is the capital of the council of Somiedo. As it is a mountainous area, most of the routes have a certain slope and a degree of difficulty that many young children are not used to.

That is why the accessible path of Pola de Somiedo is ideal for the little ones, as it has hardly any slopes and the ones that there are are quite gentle. Moreover, along the way you will enjoy the spectacular mountain scenery, but with a very quiet and pleasant walk.

Distance: the route is linear and is 2 kilometres out and 2 kilometres back.

Gradient: all the slopes are very gentle and none of them exceed 8%.

Difficulty: very easy, anyone can do it.

This trail starts in the village of Pola de Somiedo and has been adapted mainly for people with reduced mobility, vision problems or the elderly, so it is also suitable for children's pushchairs or for walking with very young children.

The route starts at the end of Pola de Somiedo, so we cross the village passing over its picturesque stone bridge, where we stop for a while to see a blackbird fluttering around.

After walking through the streets of the village, with the children fascinated by the cats that came out to meet them and, after passing through the Plaza, we arrived at the Somiedo and the Bear Interpretation Centre. Before starting the route, we visited this interpretation centre where, by means of panels and games, we learned about the importance of the bear in the ecosystem of the Cantabrian Mountains and the fact that Somiedo is one of the few habitats in this mountain range where the bear lives. At the gates of the museum there is a hórreo (granary) that attracted our children's attention.

Next to the interpretation centre is the church of San Pedro and in front of it there is a sign indicating the beginning of the path.

The path has been created using an old path that used to connect Pola de Somiedo with the neighbouring village of Veigas.

Shortly after starting the route we cross a wooden bridge that crosses the river Sousas, which shortly afterwards flows into the river Somiedo. Practically the entire route of the path runs along the left bank of the river Somiedo.

This first part is asphalted and signposted on the ground. Be careful with children, because for a few metres, the first part of the route runs parallel to the road, although it is separated from it by a fence.

We pass a supermarket, which was great for buying water and something to eat for a snack.

Further on, we come across a beautiful mansion that was the home of the intellectual, humanist and liberal lawyer Álvaro Flórez-Estrada, and which is now a hotel establishment.

Up to this point, the path is asphalted to facilitate the entrance to this hotel. From here, the path becomes a gravel road, which is also very comfortable as the road surface is in very good condition.

During the walk, the path is fenced off on the downhill side, which can present some danger, but this makes the route completely safe.

The path enters a beautiful forest of beech, oak, ash, lime, maple, hazel and even gall oak trees, which in Asturias can only be found here and in the Cares.

It is a beautiful environment of intense green, full of vegetation on both sides.

Along the route we found benches and also sets of tables with benches, so that we could eat during the route. The truth is that they were great for the kids' snack.

From time to time we saw panels with information about the fauna and flora of this environment. The posters show a drawing of the animal or plant, a text with information and also the same text written in Braille.

Shortly after the sign indicating that we are at the first kilometre point, we see that the path forks in two. The accessible path continues downhill, while the old path continues uphill for a short while, only to rejoin later on.

Although this second path is not as well conditioned, you can walk well on it. So I advise you to take the accessible one and come back the other way.

We continued along the accessible path, enjoying the scenery, until we reached the first viewpoint: the Mirador del Río Aguino. There we could enjoy beautiful views of the valley of the river Somiedo, which was at our feet, and of the col and the river Aguino, on the slope opposite. By means of a panel there, we found out which mountains we were looking at.

From here the road turns into a dirt track and it is at this point that we encounter the steepest climb, although the little one was able to handle it like a champ.

After the ascent we reach the second viewpoint: the Desfiladero de la Malva viewpoint. It is so called because from it you can see this beautiful gorge, where we also did another highly recommended route with children, seeing the botanical garden that is located there.

From the viewpoint there is a narrower path that goes into the forest and leads to Veigas. From this point onwards, access to this path is forbidden, except to livestock farmers and authorities, because it is a protected area.

After a stop at the viewpoint to regain our strength on one of its benches and, after having seen some griffon vultures flying over our heads, we returned along the same path until we reached the fork.

On this occasion, we chose to return along the path above, which did not pose any difficulty. This is a path with more trees and flowers than the one on the way out, so we took the opportunity to take a few photos.

Further on we find the point where the road and the accessible path meet and from there we return to Pola de Somiedo, after a very pleasant walk.