Ordesa y Monte Perdido National Park

About this place

Ordesa y Monte Perdido National Park is a mountain park in the Pyrenees of Aragon, northern Spain, near the village of Torla, about 12 km east of Torla and 67 km northeast of Huesca in a straight line. There has been a national park in the Ordesa Valley since 1918, enlarged in 1982 to 156 square kilometres. In 1997 it became part of the cross-border Pyrénées – Mont Perdu UNESCO World Heritage Site for its spectacular geological landforms. The rock is mostly limestone, and glaciers carved cirques and deep U-shaped valleys. Monte Perdido rises to 3,355 metres, the third highest peak in the Pyrenees; its name means «lost mountain», because it cannot be seen from the French side. The Ordesa Valley runs for about 11 km between towering limestone walls in rust and grey, their slopes covered in beech, fir and pine forest. The Arazas river runs along the floor over rock steps and a chain of waterfalls, including the Gradas de Soaso and the Cola de Caballo, the «horsetail» falls at the valley's head. Chamois, bearded vultures and golden eagles live here. Visitors walk the fairly easy valley path from the Pradera de Ordesa meadow to the Cola de Caballo, a long return hike that takes most of a day. Private cars are barred from the valley in high season, when a bus runs from Torla, and mountain weather changes fast.