The Tosande yew forest is the most searched-for walk in the Palencia Mountains: a stand of ancient yews inside a beech wood on the slopes of Peña Oracada (1,818 m). Before you go, there are three things worth knowing: when the full loop is open, where to leave the car and how hard the climb really is.
Route facts
According to the regional government's official leaflet, it's a 10.5 km loop with 200 m of ascent, taking about 3 hours 30 minutes, rated moderate. The high point, a viewpoint above the yews, is over 1,400 m. Other guides give a bigger total climb; we use the official figure, but expect a final stepped climb through the beech wood, with benches along the way.
When to go: the season matters
The walk changes through the year:
- Spring and summer: it's a loop. You climb to the yews, carry on to the viewpoint and come down another valley through holly woodland.
- Autumn and winter: the descent through the holly is closed from mid-autumn to spring, during the hunting season. You can only walk from the car park to the viewpoint and back the same way.
- Hunt days: the trail closes completely. Check dates with the natural park visitor centre in Cervera de Pisuerga on +34 979 87 06 88.
If you're going in autumn, ring first. The beech wood looks wonderful then, but it's also hunting season.
Parking and the route
The car park is beside the C-626 road near Dehesa de Montejo, next to the Jardín de la Tejeda, a small interpretation garden about the valley that's worth a look before you set off. It's a short drive from Cervera de Pisuerga.
The route drops down a track, passes under the La Robla narrow-gauge railway and follows the usually dry bed of the Tosande stream past the spoil heaps of an old mine. Then the valley opens out and the vegetation changes quickly: holm oak, oak and finally beech. In the meadows you can make out burial mounds around 4,000 years old. Before a hut, the path turns left into the beech wood that holds the yews, some more than 15 m tall and over 145 cm across. Inside the yew grove you must stay on the path.
Is it suitable for children?
Not for small children. Given the distance and time, it's a half-day walk. If you're travelling as a family, the same municipality of Cervera has much shorter trails, such as the Roblón de Estalaya at 4.6 km, which also ends at a monumental tree. See our guide to family walks in the Palencia Mountains.
Still got energy? Fuente Cobre
If you enjoy Tosande, the area's other big half-day walk is the Fuente Cobre Trail in La Pernía: a 13 km loop with 400 m of ascent to the cave where the River Pisuerga rises.
Where to stay and eat
The Parador de Cervera de Pisuerga is about 2 km from the village, overlooking the Ruesga reservoir, and its restaurant leans on wild mushrooms in season. In the centre of Cervera, Restaurante Peñalabra has been in the same family since 1932 and serves a set lunch menu.
If you'd like to see wildlife as well as trees, PNTA runs 4x4 trips through the natural park and, from mid-September to mid-October, outings to hear the red deer rut.