XIBLU WATERFALL WALKING ROUTE ASTURIAS SPAIN

XIBLU WATERFALL ROUTE  THROUGH MONTEGRANDE BEECH FOREST - ASTURIAS PR.AS-269 SPAIN

Hiking Trail: Lineal
Itinerary: Braña La Puerca - Xiblu Waterfall - Braña La Puerca

Distance: 8.5 km aprox. round trail
Length: 3 h. and a half calmly
Difficulty: Easy
Height difference: 150 m.
On Mtb: No
Kids: Yes, with caution in the approach to the Waterfall
Date: 09/12/2012
Location: AS-228, 33111, Asturias, España
TRACK OF THE ROUTE

To get to the start of the Xiblu Waterfall walking path, we must follow the AS-228 toward the Ventana Pass and, about 3 miles past the village of Paramo, we can leave the car in a small lot of land to the right of the road where several panels are indicative of the start of the trail. to get there SEE LOCATION.

In this map you can see perfectly well the path location and Xiblu waterfall, with the villages of Páramo and Focella south, Las Ubiñas southeast, Torrestio south and, Real Camin of La Mesa, the Alto de la Farrapona and Saliencia Lakes southwest.

Sorroundings Map from Montegrande Beech and The Xiblu Waterfalls

And in this one, you have a more in detail map with the full path of the hike.

Detailed map of Beech Forest and Waterfall Xiblo Montegrande - Teverga - Asturias - Spain

And finally we leave the topographic map for those who are fond about altitude curves and staff.

Topographic map of Beech Forest and Waterfall Xiblo Montegrande - Teverga - Asturias - Spain

The Beech Forest of Montegrande and Xiblu waterfall is located in the Cantabrian mountain range, in the county of Teverga and inside the Natural Park of Las Ubiñas La Mesa. The beech forest is the third forest spot in Asturias, after Muniellos and Peloño Forests, and the area where it is located is known as the privilege, being an independent municipality from Teverga until 1827. This privilege was granted by King Bermudo III in the year 1033 the inhabitants of the three villages in the area: Paramo, Sub Villa and The Focella, exempting them from paying taxes and giving them the status of noble and free. In the photo panel indicates that the privilege was granted by Bermuda III. We assume it is due to a typographical error.

walking pathway explanatory Panel

The hike runs almost entirely through a forest track with little slope until we reached the river Fundil or La Verde. Once we crossed by a wooden bridge, in about 750 m we will be up to the waterfall Xiblu. In the latter part of the walk the ground is uneven, with argayos (landslides), some trees lying across the path and a vertical drop of 100 meters. This is the only area you have to walk with a bit of caution and in our case, almost frozen with snow, had to tread very carefully.

Gateway wheelchair accessible

Actually we expected to find some snow but it was a surprise that in some areas there were at least 30 cm of  frozen snow.

Teverga Montegrande Beech - The Natural Park Ubiñas La Mesa Asturias Spain

In any case we were lucky to have an amazing day so, even though the temperature did not rise at any point of 0 ° C, we put up pretty well, except in the shadowed areas and in the vicinity of the cascade, where pulled a light breeze ...

The Estrechura Gorge seeing from the trail  - Teverga - Asturias -Spain

At the bottom left of the picture we see the gorge of Estrechura by passing the road up to the Port of Ventana where is located the karst Cave Huerta.

The Estrechura Gorge seeing from Montegrande Beech Forest

snowy beech forest Asturias Spain

Almost at the bridge over the Fundil Creek, We find this educational panel which explains that Corros are constructions formerly used by cattle herders passing seasons in the care of livestock.

From this point you can see the waterfall Xiblo, which they say is named after the sound it produces, which resembles a whistle.

Xiblu Waterfall - Teverga - Asturias - Spain

Till this point reaches the forest track and what is called the Beech Forest Nature trail Montegrande with its many panels in which we report the diverse flora and fauna of the area, a few meters past the panel's description of waterfall and information on the degree of difficulty, distance, and type of clothing and footwear advised .....

Explanatory panel on Xiblu Waterfall

We went down the steps that are in the background on the picture to cross the bridge over the creek ...

Fundil Creek Asturias - Spain

... and get to this signpost where you have to turn left towards the waterfalls through Braniecha Forest.

From here, as I had mentioned, the things change slightly and the path gets very slippery and steep in some sections. In any case, with some caution, is perfectly rises and does not reach 1 km distance. In any case, if it were not for the snow, things would have been much easier.

At last we reached the waterfall, which in late fall, doesn´t come down with plenty of water, but still worth a visit at any time of year.

Xiblu Waterfall - Teverga - Asturias

The photos do not do all the honor it deserves because we did not care to wear gloves, and fingers were not accurate getting the shutter button, so we took a few picturesin  all haste to return to the sunny side. We had no choice but to use socks as gloves to resolve the situation, in part at least, due to our little bug.

Xiblu Waterfall - Teverga - Asturias

So we got back on track seeking a good place to eat ...

...just down the trees at the point marked on the former map "aquí perfecto para comer". And after enjoying the deserved sandwich, we continue the way back ...

... we encounter with this surprise that accompanied us almost all the way to the car. For the size of the prints, it seems  likea family of bears were hiking through the area.

Bears tracks in Teverga Asturias

The shoe size is 40 in European Size (7 in the U.K), to give you an idea of ​​the size of the prints, and we get to the point of thinking that a bear might try one or two cubs. We also saw many other signs of deer, and occasionally from wolves.

So we spent the rest of our hiking tour investigating the remaining traces of the path and so we thought, the bears used this track to move between different areas of the range.

Almost reaching the end, we had this view of the bottom of the Gorge and the road Estrechura, through which we get here.

Here you have the HIKING TRACK IN WIKILOC

As you can see this walking path is very pretty and easy to perform. We will try again in the spring.


Greetings

PynAstur