Laguna de neila burgos

Province of burgos

In the surroundings we can enjoy a pleasant walk through the town of Neila discovering its emblazoned houses, the source of the river Najerilla in a cave, the church of Santa Maria, of Gothic origin, the Roman bridge and the jurisdictional roll.

The landscape is configured as the guiding thread of the main part of the exhibition located in the central body of the restored church. From the formal point of view, the exhibition solution maintains a sober line and tries to optimize the space using an ingenious system of sliding panels. Thus begins a journey through time in which is reflected, first, how the landscape has evolved throughout the geological history of the earth, contextualizing this evolution in the Natural Park through a game of questions and answers that is reflected in the corresponding panels. This part of the exhibition is called Landscape in evolution and consists of a background panel and four scrollable thematic panels that start a journey through time and through the evolution of the different landscapes from the most ancient times of the Earth to the current landscape:

Orbaneja of the castle

The Lagunas de Neila are one of the most unique natural places in the province of Burgos, so we are going to give you all the keys to enjoy knowing them and walking their spectacular hiking trails.

To reach them you have to climb to the highest part of the Sierra de Neila, one of the four mountain ranges that together with those of La Demanda, Mencilla and Urbión, make up the Burgos part of the Iberian System.

In addition to the ecological importance of the aquatic environment, the geological singularity of its glacial forms, its impressive landscapes, the extensive forests of Scots pine -which are the largest in the Iberian Peninsula-, as well as the richness of its fauna and flora, with a multitude of protected species that have in this area one of their best refuges.

The predominant vegetation is composed, in addition to sessile pines, by beeches, oaks, yews and holly trees. Among the fauna are the wolf, the deer, the golden eagle, the short-toed eagle, the goshawk and the black vulture, recently introduced in this area thanks to the Monachus Project.

Neila spain

One of the great resources of Burgos is its nature, a province with many types of landscapes and all of them beautiful. This time we are going to talk about the Neila Glacial Lagoons, in the Sierra de la Demanda in Burgos. A magnificent natural heritage protected as Natural Park of the Black Lagoon and Glacial Cirques of Urbión.

Before going to this area, it is advisable to check the weather in the area, as Burgos is famous for its cold weather, which makes it cool even in summer. In fact, during our trip in August, we had no clothes to spare.

This area of Burgos is one of the most charming. We visit it whenever we have the chance, as it is very interesting and full of history and heritage. This complex of glacial lakes of Neila is composed of a total of 7 large glacial lakes, ranging from 1700 meters to almost 2000 meters altitude.

This area is very old, even geologically speaking, in fact, in their environment have been located hundreds of ichnites, or dinosaur footprints, and even dinosaur bones that have allowed cataloging two species unique to the Iberian Peninsula.

Quintanar de la sierra campsite

Between 1969 and 1972 a project was developed to transform the glacier complex for tourism and intensive fishing. Some of the consequences of this project were the alteration of moraines, clearing, creation of dams and construction of roads in an environment that had been little used until then. This work, understandable within the developmentalist context of the time and successful in its aims, had a clear negative effect from an ecological point of view.

“… On the way to Neila, just after leaving Quintanar, the road starts winding up to the Laguna Negra, an impressive water shell, daughter of the snow of the upper peaks, at 1915 m, altitude. It is a temptation for fishing and swimming … The landscape is clearly alpine, with swirling mountains, hidden valleys and the pine forest dressing the horizon…”[3].