Logbook · 3 places

What to see and do in Ponga

What to see and do in Ponga (Oriente, Asturias): 3 places across monuments, nature, activities and curiosities, with a photo and a Google Maps location.

1 Villages · 2 Nature

How far each place is from the centre of Ponga

Ponga Natural Park 5.8 km
Forest of Peloño 7.1 km

Towns near Ponga

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What to see in Acebedo 17 km · 2 places
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What to see in Onís 19 km · 5 places
What to see in Parres 19 km · 5 places

Spain › Principality of Asturias › Oriente › Ponga

What to see and do in Ponga

Ponga
Village
Ponga is a concejo of the Principality of Asturias, in the southeast of the region, on the border with the province of León, with barely 576 inhabitants across 206 square kilometres of rugged terrain typical of the Cantabrian massif, combining high and mid mountains with river valleys. Almost the entirety of its territory has been protected since 2003 as the Ponga Natural Park, the fourth in the region. Its highest point is the peña Ten, at 2,142 metres, in the Cantabrian mountain range that forms the border with Castile and León; the Salt Path once ran through there, an ancient route linking the port of Ribadesella, from which salted goods were shipped, with Castilian grain. Its capital, San Juan de Beleño, refers back to the Celtic god Belenos, and the Los Beyos gorge and the Peloño beech forest mark the landscape of the concejo.
Ponga Natural Park
Nature
Ponga Natural Park protects 20,533 hectares in the central area of the Cantabrian Mountains, spread over almost the entire Asturian municipality of Ponga, between the Picos de Europa National Park and the Redes Natural Park; it was declared by Law 4/2003. Beech and oak woods predominate -including the forest of the Peloño partial nature reserve, of around 15 km²- and there are also birch, ash, alder and chestnut woods in Taranes, Beleños and Abiegos. Its fauna includes the brown bear, present sporadically, red deer, roe deer and Cantabrian chamois, otter and desman in the rivers, and birds such as the golden eagle, griffon vulture, Egyptian vulture, Cantabrian capercaillie and grey partridge. Unesco added it to the world network of biosphere reserves in 2018.
Forest of Peloño
Nature
The Peloño forest is an extensive beech-fir wood on the eastern slope of the Picos de Europa, between the valleys of the Sella and Dobra rivers, in the municipality of Ponga, in eastern Asturias. Protected as a partial nature reserve, it is considered one of the best-preserved forest ecosystems of the Cantabrian coast and a priority habitat under European conservation legislation. Alongside the beeches grow firs, oaks and hazels, with an understorey of ferns, bilberries and fungi typical of the damp mountains; its fauna includes roe deer, wolves, wildcats and birds such as the golden eagle. Historically linked to the rural communities of the municipality, for decades its timber was brought down as pit props to the region's coal mines.