Cycle tourism. Cabranes tour - Turismo Asturias

Cabranes is a municipality with gently undulating terrain, situated in the central-eastern part of the region and forming part of the La Sidra district. It is notable for its meadows and lush valleys and, in particular, for its native forests, which together form a landscape of great natural beauty.

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Address Santolaya-Torazu

Distance Distance: 29 kms
Difficulty Difficulty: Medio
Total ascent Total ascent: 746 m
Maximum altitude Maximum altitude: 496 m
Minimum altitude Minimum altitude: 169 m
IBP index IBP index: 54

Route One-day routes
Type of bicycle Type of bicycle: Road
Type of route Type of route: Circular
Return by Train Return by Train: No

Starting point Starting point: Santolaya
Ending point Ending point: Santolaya
Estimated duration Estimated duration: Half day

The route begins in Santolaya, the council’s administrative centre, from where you descend along a road in very good condition to the bottom of the valley, where it is worth making a short detour from the route to visit the Romanesque church of San Julian de Viñón, very close to the Rural School Museum.

From here, just a few metres away, take the turn-off onto a local road that climbs uphill, passing through the villages of La Puerte and Arboleya, and then, before reaching Naveda, take the tarmac track that runs past the Carmen chapel and crosses the Montenaveda area, a spot of great beauty thanks to the wooded area it passes through.

Following another local road, you continue to the Cruz de La Collada junction, from where you can see the Ría de Villaviciosa; you then descend towards Pandenes and make your way through meadows and woodland, passing through small villages such as Los Villares, Fresnéu, Piñera (with its Museum of Folk Ceramics), to the Alto de La Encrucijada, and from there on to Torazu, a village that deserves special attention for its distinctive architecture, which combines the houses of the ‘indianos’ (returnees from the Americas) with traditional Asturian buildings featuring corridors and galleries.

The route continues along local roads offering superb views of the Central Asturian Mountains and the Picos de Europa, passing through small rural hamlets such as La Cotariella and Xiranes, from where, on a continuous descent and surrounded by a dense gallery forest, the route passes Madiéu and Bospolín before returning to the starting point in Santolaya.