Logbook · 15 places

Abantos Pine Forest and La Herrería area

San Lorenzo de El Escorial, Cuenca del Guadarrama, Madrid

1 Villages · 9 Monuments · 2 Nature · 1 Activities · 1 Curiosities · 1 Historical milestones

Spain › Community of Madrid › Cuenca del Guadarrama › San Lorenzo de El Escorial › Abantos Pine Forest and La Herrería area

Abantos Pine Forest and La Herrería area

Nature · San Lorenzo de El Escorial, Cuenca del Guadarrama, Madrid

A picturesque site declared a protected natural area of the Community of Madrid by Royal Decree 2418 of 1961, covering 1,171 hectares split between two adjoining but clearly distinct zones: the mass of pine forest climbing the monte Abantos and the ash-tree dehesa of La Herrería, right at the foot of the monastery, in the municipalities of San Lorenzo de El Escorial and Santa María de la Alameda. It holds a significant population of Apollo and Spanish moon moth butterflies, protected by the Community of Madrid, and offers one of the best viewpoints over the Monastery of El Escorial. Within the site is the Luis Ceballos Arboretum Environmental Education Centre, with a collection of trees and shrubs native to the Iberian Peninsula and the Balearic Islands, which also serves as an information centre for the monte Abantos.

Photo: Esetena (CC BY-SA 3.0)

What to see and do in San Lorenzo de El Escorial