Bardenas Reales: a hint of Far West in Navarre
(vero;2024-Nov-23)
You can also check our photo gallery dedicated to the Bardenas Reales
We came across the Bardenas Reales National Park, a semi-desert natural region, while doing some research for our 2024 summer trip and the photos we saw on several blogs were so tantalising that we decided to make a detour to see the place with our own eyes. Long unknown to mass tourism, social medias and traveller blogs are now rapidly turning the park into a (very) popular touristic attraction.
The area covers 42,000 hectares and is roughly divided into three distinctive parts. The Bardena Blanca (the touristy part) in the centre of the park is a desert with badlands drained by rivers cutting deep ravines in the clay soil and home to photogenic hoodoos (fairy chimneys) and buttes. The Bardena Negra in the south is the highest part of the park, hilly with plateaus covered with trees. Finally, the Bardena del Plano north of the Bardena Blanca is a wide plateau with vegetation and cultivated corn fields.
The area is also a Biosphere Reserve and home to many protected birds of prey which means that some parts of the park are strictly out of bound during their nesting time from February to September. This is the case for the Pisquerra, Rallon, Ralla, Gorra and Zapata areas in the Bardena Blanca. Check the official website (currently only in Spanish, use Google Translate) or this detailed and very informative French website (unfortunately only in French) for info and dates.
Most visitors enter the park at the information centre and drive along the so-called "perimeter road" (looping around a military compound), a dirt road open all year and ticking the main geological attractions. The park has a quite restrictive list of roads and paths officially open to the public (click this link to download their map as a pdf file), but it is possible to explore further afield; check this page (in French) for a suggestion of walks or simply search for itineraries and gpx files on the usual sites: All Trails, Visorando, Komoot or Wikiloc to name just a few.
We were there in September, the weather should have been hot with blue skies and relentless sun but we had not much luck: it had rained heavily the days before and the canyons and barrancos were still filled with water and mud, which meant we had to stick to the perimeter road and the sites just off it. We came back two days later with bluer skies but there was still no chance to wander further away than the road due to the very muddy trails.
We enjoyed the place nevertheless but we could not help feeling a bit frustrated; coming back home we found that our photos looked more impressive than what we remembered. As far as we're concerned if you like that kind of scenery, nothing beats the unique landscapes of Cappadocia: highly recommended.
Don't forget to check our photo gallery for more pictures.
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$ updated from: Blog.htxt Fri 28 Feb 2025 14:45:59 trvl2 — Copyright © 2025 Vero and Thomas Lauer unless otherwise stated | All rights reserved $