Discover Udías: Holiday Apartment, Churches, Caves and Trails

Udías combines nature, history and trails with unusual sights. Monte Corona in Udías is part of the Oyambre Nature Park. Native beech and oak trees typical of the Atlantic forest grow on Monte Corona. The karst massif of Udías comprises more than 40 cavities and numerous tectonically formed shafts of limited extent.

The links to Canales and Valoria lead to the other locality pages for Udías. Other locality pages: Peñarrubia, Pejanda, Potes, Valdeprado, Camplengo, Las Ilces.

If you are looking for a holiday apartment in Udías, compare travel dates, room category and cancellation conditions on the respective listing pages. For planning your visit, the described trails can be compared by length, route and activity. You can classify the different types according to your planned daily itinerary.

Culture

Folk festivals take place every year in the villages of Udías. A mass is followed by the Picayos dance in honour of the saint; in the afternoon or evening, there is a Romería and a Verbena.

The parish church of Pumalverde is a Gothic building with two naves dating from the 15th or early 16th century. It has a square apse with a ribbed vault, a pointed-arch entrance in the Romanesque tradition, and capitals depicting heads from which stems emerge. The San Nicolás Chapel in La Hayuela follows the model of a traditional Romanesque chapel of Cantabria.

Near San Nicolás Chapel, a medieval necropolis with slab graves and limestone sarcophagi was discovered in 1982 and 1985. A pottery kiln was discovered at Cotero de los Tejeros near Barrio La Virgen. Dating indicates a pre-industrial brickworks whose activity is believed to have taken place between 1679 and 1744.

Objects and coins from Roman times were found in the San Bartolomé open-pit mine located in the locality of Canales. The Cueva de Las Cáscaras cave in Canales is notable for the discovery of a significant assemblage of human skeletal remains.

Experiences

At Finca Fuente del Corzo in Pumalverde, visitors can experience a beehive in its natural habitat during June, July and August, handle bees and honeycombs, observe the extraction and bottling of honey, and taste honey and products from the hive. Outside these months, availability should be checked.

Cuevas y Minas de Udías offers guided cave and mining tours that begin at a base in the locality of Pumalverde opposite the church. A simple circular excursion of approximately 10 km is also offered, with several explanatory stops on the geomorphology of the surroundings and a visit to a natural cave.

Routes

The Sendero Real: Paisaje y Arquitectura Popular begins and ends in Barrio Canales in Udías. The easy circular trail is 8.8 km long and is suitable for walking or cycling. Another route documented in Udías is recommended for walking or mountain biking; it is 8.2 km long and follows a circular route.

The El Mozucu route connects the Iglesia de la Virgen de la Caridad in Barrio La Virgen in Udías with Braña El Mozucu. The Sel del Haya route begins in La Gándara, a place known in Udías as “la mina”, and leads from La Gándara in Cobijón to the Sel del Haya mine. It is described as a 2.6 km linear out-and-back route and leads to mining- and industrial-history remains, spoil heaps with calamine residues, traces of mineral transport, and a landscape shaped by mining.

The Arquitectura Religiosa y Arquitectura Popular route begins in Canales and ends at San Esteban Chapel on Monte Corona. It is an easy, 20 km linear trail through the districts of Udías and the rural landscape of the valley. The El Monte Corona y sus ermitas route can be reached by car from Barrio La Hayuela in Udías.

One route begins in Barrio Cobijón in Udías. Another linear route in Udías is approximately 9 km long. The features described for another route include mining- and industrial-history remains as well as two tunnels carved into the rock.

Nature

The entrance to Cueva El Rescaño near Rodezas can only be reached via a steep descent requiring caving equipment. El Rescaño cave currently extends over 15 km of natural galleries.

A recreation area on the CA-135 road between Cabezón de la Sal and Comillas has several tables with benches, barbecue facilities and two information boards about the surroundings.

To the higher-level travel overview: Cantabria.