Lago el Valle is a small lake in the spectacular mountains of Somiedo and an extremely popular hiking destination. On this hike, we will not reach it by the usual route, but by a much longer route right through the Natural Park of Somiedo and we will visit the peak of Picos Blancos, where we have great views over Asturias and León. From the Picos Blancos we continue to Lago el Valle from where we finish the hike on the comfortable trail of the Ruta de Valle del Lago.

  • From where you parked (1), walk a little bit back towards Valle de Lago and then turn left on a wide path (2). A little further on we arrive at another path and we turn right (3). A little further on we ignore a fork on the left and go straight ahead. We have Valle de Lago on our right.
  • A little further on we turn left onto a paved road (4), towards Braña de Sousa. We follow the white-yellow marking and keep to the right a little further on at the Y-junction. Over ten minutes later we keep left at the Y-junction (6), further up.
  • We follow the PR-AS-16 for about 45 minutes and turn left on a narrow trail (7), marked with milestones. Another half hour later we arrive at barbed wire (8) which we cross. We initially descend slightly towards the Majada Chaguezos, but then continue in a northeasterly direction, up the mountain. We walk on the mountainside with the Peña Chana on our left and the Majada Chaguezos on our right.
  • In this way we eventually arrive at a top with a pile of milestones (9). From this top we descend in a southeasterly direction to a collado (10). Here we turn in a southwesterly direction and meander up the ridge to another collado (11).
  • From this collado (11) we turn to the southeast and walk steeply up the mountain, to reach the peak of Picos Blancos (12) some 120 metres higher up the mountain.
  • From the Picos Blancos we continue the route over the ridge in a northeasterly direction, partly over the ridge, partly to the right below. We descend to a collado (13) and see something of a trail with milestones on the left. Via this path we descend between the large stones. On the right in front of you we see another collado, but we are not going here; you keep to the right (14) and a clearly observable path originates again.
  • We now walk on a comfortable path again, ignore another path to the left and eventually arrive at a wide path (15) where we turn right, further down. After about ten minutes, in a bend of the dirt road, we turn left off the road (16). A little further on we turn right again and descend in this way to the dirt road that we see below. Once on this road (17) we turn left.
  • A little further at a small building (18) we turn right of the path, a small stretch without a path. A little further there is another path. Further on (19) we go through the barbed wire and we see Lago el Valle clearly in front of us.
  • Fifteen minutes later we reach Lago el Valle (20) and turn left, along the wall. At the end of the wall we follow the bend to the left (21). Further on, we take a left on a wide path and so quickly arrive at the path Ruta de Valle de Lago (22), where we turn left again.
  • We simply follow this wide path (the "Sol" route) and in just under an hour we arrive at the buildings, before Valle de Lago, where we keep left (23), which brings us back to the car ten minutes later .

Route Picos Blancos