La sierra del Sueve | Rutas por la Sierra del Sueve Asturias, senderismo en asturias | desdeasturias.com

The flora of this place is composed by many native forests near the sources of rivers and in the highest points we can find oak woods, chestnut, ash and beech trees. It is thought that one of these forests was a refuge for the old druids. The woods are very famous for their beauty, in spite of the fact that, the slopes have been suffering from progressive deforestation together with the farmers’ increasing use of the area.

The mountain range of Sueve is only 4 km from the coast of Colunga, and it is around 1100 metres above sea level. The highest peak above sea level reaches 1159 metres: This is called the Picu Pienzu. This is the highest and the closest to the Asturian coast. If you are a keen sightseer you can reach this point and enjoy one of the most beautiful sights of the Cantabrian region.

Just in front of the sea, we can observe how the coast spreads across the whole of the Eastern region. It is like having a bird’s eye view. Behind us Peaks of Europe reach up to the heavens. We can enjoy beautiful sights because we are in a privileged place.

This same mountain range extends for more than 81 square metres where it is usual to find groups of fallow deers grazing in the nearby fields. Sometimes if you are lucky, you can become an unexpected watcher of the wild fauna. Here, we can also find the famous Asturcones which are the most ancient and purebred horses whose historical references date from 2000 years ago. This is a unique race of vigorous animals that can reach heights of up to 1’25 m., with a strong build and dark hair. It is thought that they are of Celtic origin and still nowadays they run free over this beautiful landscape.

In ancient times they were much appreciated by warriors because they ensured fast travelling from one place to another. They finally became very famous in all of Europe to the point that they were exported to other high lands, including the Alps.

These mountains were the last place where this kind of horses still remained alive. Only the efforts carried out by some breeders avoided the extinction of this race. In the 70’s only 40 of these horses remained alive. Every year, during August in the Majada d’Espineres (The access is through the Alto of La Llama) all the horses were branded with the initial of the owner who had tried to tame it. This used to be a farmer’s job but nowadays a great party in honour of these horses is celebrated and over the years has become an interesting regional tourist event:The Asturcon’s Party.

Many predatory birds can be seen in the air completing in this way, a spectacular scenery of wild life on both earth and in air. Cottages with cows, goats, sheep and horses share the space of the slopes of Sueve.

The best option in order to reach the highest point is just to go to the Mirador del Fitu. From here, we can enjoy the beautiful sights of the Cantabrian mountain range. We can see a bird’s eye view of the councils of Colunga, Caravia, Villaviciosa, Ribadesella, y Llanes. If we want to go to picu Pienzu we would have to walk for 5 hours on a trip that requires a lot of effort with the walk becoming even harder by the last stage. From the Fito this route seems to be clearly defined. This path leads us to the sheepfold known as “El Bustacu”. From here, the walk becomes even harder but we can make it easier if we take some water bottles and a couple of energy drinks.

All this mountain range is isolated from the montaneous landscape of Asturias because the river Sella has drawn a limit between both lands. It is important to mention the limestone that covers these lands and the coastal limits that are at their feet.

Traslation by Rebeca Couto.