Bardenas Reales

About this place

The Bardenas Reales is a semi-desert area of badlands in the southeast of Navarre, northern Spain, on the border with Aragon, about 17 km northeast of Tudela and 71 km south of Pamplona in a straight line. It covers some 420 square kilometres. Its soils of clay, chalk and sandstone have been carved by water and wind into strange shapes: canyons, flat-topped plateaus and lone hills called cabezos. There are no towns, plants are sparse, and its streams are dry most of the year. It became a natural park in 1999 and a UNESCO Biosphere Reserve in 2000. Its best-known landmark is Castildetierra, a slender clay hill topped by a spire of harder rock that looks like a castle in the middle of the plain. Around it, grey and orange layers of clay ripple and gully, and flat-topped mesas on the horizon turn gold at sunset. Visitors drive the marked dirt tracks or go by bike or on foot, starting from the visitor centre. There is no shade or water inside, so carry water and avoid the summer heat; spring and autumn are the best seasons.