Sierra de Urbión
Two days if you walk, one if you drive up to the Laguna Negra. Bring a jacket even in July.
Pine forest at altitude, a black lake in a glacial cirque, and the spring where the Duero begins.
At a Glance
- — You want heat and a beach — this is 2,000 metres of shade and resin.
The Sierra de Urbión is the highest ground in Soria and above all a working pine forest. The Pinares were tapped for resin for a century and their timber built ships and railway sleepers; the villages still live off the pine, and the smell of resin in summer is the defining thing about the place. Vinuesa, Covaleda and Duruelo de la Sierra are the main villages, and the Laguna Negra — a glacial tarn under the peaks with a peat-black bottom and a local legend attached — is the one place everybody visits. High, cold and green, it is cool even in August, which is why Madrileños have summered here for generations. Mushrooms in autumn, snow in winter, trout in the river all year.
How it got here
These mountains formed a vital resource for the Crown of Castile, which granted the Carreta Real in the thirteenth century to the local timber guilds. This decree established the Mesta and the brotherhoods responsible for moving wood and wool across the kingdom. The villages of the Pinares thrived on this trade, providing timber for the royal shipyards and sleepers for the expansion of the nineteenth century rail networks. Today the architecture of the stone houses and the layout of the mountain lanes testify to the wealth generated by this long monopoly over the pine forests which defined the social structure of this Soria plateau.
Where it sits
Deep glacial valleys cut through the granite and limestone ridges of the Sistema Ibérico to create a landscape defined by dense coniferous forests. The terrain rises toward the peaks of the Sierra de Urbión where the Duero river finds its source among high-altitude peat bogs. Hard winters bring heavy snow that limits movement between the stone-built villages of Vinuesa and Covaleda. During the brief summers the air stays cold even at noon. Traffic centers on the track to the Laguna Negra, yet most of these slopes remain silent, used only for logging or livestock grazing.
What to eat and drink
Mantequilla de Soria, a butter with a protected designation of origin, provides the base for many local pastries. The woods yield a bounty of edible fungi including boletus and chanterelles, often sautéed with local garlic. Torrezno, thick strips of pork belly fried until the rind turns crunchy and the fat renders, remains the staple of every bar counter. Roast lamb takes the place of honor at the family table, seasoned simply with salt and wood smoke. Meals conclude with a glass of aniseed spirit or a strong red wine from the neighboring Ribera del Duero.
Castilla y León: the whole region
The largest region in Spain, and the one that most rewards a car: a plateau of walled cities, Romanesque churches and vineyards, with Salamanca, León, Burgos and Segovia as four genuine anchors spread across four hundred kilometres. There…
Minimum 5 days · better 8-10 days · deep 2 weeks
In and around Sierra de Urbión
In Castilla y León
In Castilla y León
In Castilla y León
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