Cycling Tour in the Pre-Pyrenees, the Bardenas Reales and other unknown Spain Deserts

Gallipienzo, one of the oldest towns in Navarre (10th century). Located then in a place border between the old kingdoms of Navarre and Aragon, at present and as far as we are concerned it is located in the "pure center" of El Desierto.

from Gallipienzo, the course of the Aragón river takes us into what we could call "no man's land". We will pedal through the bottom of a strangely maintained valley without roads and that maintains for that reason a biological diversity far above the usual.

South slope of the Sierra de Peña. During the ascent and once a certain height is reached, the silhouette of the Moncayo appears on the horizon line. He will accompany us until the end of the trip.

As an apparition and almost out of place, the Despoblado de La Torre de Peña arises in the middle of the Mountain Range.

Despoblado de La Torre de Peña. With the remains of its old tower at the top, the place invites an extended stop. Inhabited until the second half of the 20th century (1964) and with the ghosts of the past emerging in every corner, it is undoubtedly one of the neuralgic points of El Desierto.

The view that can be seen from the remains of the tower makes us see the strategic value of the place during the years of conflict.

Ruins of the Roman City of Santa Criz in Valdaibar, one of the "essential" places.

It will be hard to forget a night walk through one of the most authentic villages of Navarre, something that we do at petition of the groups - and when posible -
In Gallipienzo things are, because they were and still are. Nothing is set for you to see it.

Low mists in the Pre-Pyrenees.

Paths between vineyards in the lands of ancient Valdaibar.

The course of the Aragón River is the natural line - and our SLOW option - to join the Pre-Pyrenean valleys with the Ribera Navarra.

Medieval village of Eslava, a town that recovers its important historical heritage through its own efforts.

The Sierra de Peña, where the stage of yesterday passed, closes the horizon. The Navarran vineyards begin to make their presence.

Ruins of San Miguel church on the outskirts of Ujue. In the background, the snow-capped peaks of the Pyrenean chain. El Desierto occupies the geographical space located between said chain in the North and the Iberian System - with the Moncayo as the main and always recognizable peak - in the South.
In the solar hoop, the same church seen from Gallipienzo.

The kilometers that we have left to finish the stage are less demanding, so the stop in Ujue becomes "essential".
The monumental complex, which is in itself the entire Villa, is finished off with the impressive Fortress - Castle / Church - of Santa Maria. A church enclosed in a castle.

We visit the so-called Media Zone of Navarra heading towards the BARDENAS REALES. In this transition zone we will find the Laguna de Pitillas, a Natural Reserve, place of passage of thousands of migratory birds, and shelter for more than a hundred species of birds nesting.

Navarra forgotten during the final kilometers of the stage.

Murillo El Fruto and Carcastillo from the Mirador del Castillo. Today's stage comes to an end. On the horizon El Plano of the BARDENA tells us where we will continue tomorrow.

It is not necessary to cross the official limits of the Natural Park to realize that we are already in Las Bardenas.

Characteristic landscape of El Plano, the geographical area that together with the Bardena Blanca and the Bardena Negra, make up the orographic totality of the BARDENAS REALES.

El Paso constitutes the "official" entrance to the Bardena from the North, the point at which visitors perceive that they enter a space of semi-desert character and with their own personality.
The Monument to the Shepherd which identifies the place, pays homage to the transhumant shepherds that for centuries have been repeating the cycle of bringing in winter to this place the sheep that graze during the summer in the incredibly close and different Pyrenees.

In its southern slope, in Cornialto, the plateau of El Plano collapses in Bardena.

Geological formations characteristic of La Bardena.

At work.

From the slopes of Cornialto the most characteristic and recognizable Cabezos of the Bardena Blanca. are outlined. It is the territory where the stage of tomorrow will take place.

Ruins of the Peñaflor Castle in the pure center of the barden geography.

Bardena Blanca

Rest in the vicinity of the Ermita del Yugo. On the horizon the Moncayo is gaining presence.

Bardean environment in the surroundings of the Poligono de Tiro.

Corral de Zapata. The color of the slopes of La Nasa warns us that further south will appear the Black Bardena.

Castildeterra, the icon par excellence of the BARDENAS REALES.

Pedaling between crops under the walls of El Rallon

In the Cabezo de las Cortinillas we visualize perfectly the layers of plaster that color and make this Bardena be called "la Blanca".

The famous Paso de los Ciervos among the intricate geography that forms the Bardena under the walls of El Rallón.

Pure Bardena

The heart of the Bardena seen from Aragon, one of the "star" moments of the day.

Cabezo del Piskerra and its "niño". At the bottom the 2.314 meters of the Moncayo, habitual horizon of the Bardena.

Bardena in its purest state

Heart of the BARDENAS REALES. Unquestionably a completely different place.

Pyrenean Range seen from the slopes of the summit of La Negra.

Despoblado de Rada on the Basin of the Aragon river in the doors of La Bardena. Unlike the depopulated of the Peña Tower of the 1st stage, Rada was already depopulated in the fifteenth century.

In the surroundings of Cabanillas more than in "La Negra" it will seem to us to be in the Bardena Orange.

We lined up towards the Black Bardena

National Park environment in the Natural Reserve of Las Caidas de la Negra from the vicinity of Cabezo de Sancho Abarca.

Typical constructions of Las Bardenas, Corral de Farrique. We are on the border with the Bardena Aragonesa.

Cabezos de Sancho Abarca (left) Peña El Fraile (center) and Punta del Aguilar (right) are the last formations of the Bardenas in the South. They indicate that the end of the route is close.

From Sancho Abarca, the typical Bardenas territory is diluted in the Ebro Basin.

Amazing scene of locals planting melons on the "roof" of their house/cave on our arrival in Tauste, a "Desert City".

Apparently, in Tauste, nature gave ready-made houses.

Ebro Basin and The Moncayo seen from Sancho Abarca