Portal de Turismo de Castilla y León

We welcome you to the El Risquillo Park House in the southern area of the Gredos Mountain Range.

As in the rest of the houses of the park spread throughout the Castilla y León region, it is the recommended gateway to these natural areas. At this interpretation centre, the educators will inform you about the Gredos Mountain Range Regional Park and help you plan your visit.

Here, information on emblematic species and habitats is provided to facilitate the identification and highlight the cultural and natural heritage of these places, in a respectful manner while promoting the conservation and appreciation of biodiversity and cultural heritage.

Before starting the tour, you should know that there are different spaces inside. This audio guide is divided into audio tracks with the information contained in the different rooms. The end of each track is marked by a single beep like the one you will hear now when the information changes:

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And a double beep when there is a space change. [SOUND SAMPLE] [SOUND SAMPLE]

After the beep, you can choose to skip to the next audio track.

This house is located in the town of Guisando, in the south of Ávila. It is located on the southern face of the Gredos Mountain Range, at an altitude of 760 metres. The village has about 500 inhabitants and has been declared a Historic-Artistic Site and Picturesque Landscape. It is known for its traditional architecture, with whitewashed masonry houses and cobblestone streets. It is also an important tourist destination due to its location in the Gredos Mountain Range and its numerous natural and cultural attractions.

The Gredos Mountain Range, in the south of Castilla y León, is a mountain formation shaped by glacial erosion. It is notable for its rugged relief and sharp peaks, with the Almanzor Peak being its highest point. This region is rich in biodiversity, with diverse plant species distributed at different levels, including alpine species with numerous endemic species. As for the fauna, the mountain goat, the Almanzor salamander, and the Ávila snow vole stand out. In addition to its natural values, the Gredos Mountain Range has a rich historical and cultural heritage, such as the Roman road of Puerto del Pico and the picturesque villages of Candeleda and Guisando.

The Risquillo house is within a stone-walled enclosure. The access gate to the enclosure is a metal grille with wooden planks. The house has a light-yellow plinth and façades. On the façade there is a light grey exterior chimney, which divides a large window in two. From the outer stone wall, a wide staircase with an iron railing in the middle leads up to the terrace where the door of the house is set back several metres from the façade. If you prefer, you can also take the accessible entrance from the side of the road.

On the terrace, house’s façade is made of granite stone. There is a window with an open arched lintel.

The entrance door to the house is on a ledge to the left of the staircase.

To enter the El Risquillo Park House, you must take the stairs or the accessible ramp that leads to the porch and gives access to the facilities.

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When you enter the Park House, you will find the public service area and the visitor's corner. Here, an educator will provide you with information about various aspects of the Regional Park and help you plan your visit.

In the Visitor's Corner you can sit comfortably. A video summarising the main values of the Park is also shown, and books, objects and souvenirs related to the RANP, the acronym for the Network of Protected Natural Areas of Castilla y León, can be purchased. This network was created in 1991 to ensure the preservation of the region’s immense natural heritage. The network is a representative sample of the Castilian and Leonese ecosystems in the best state of preservation, as well as examples of sustainable development.

The route inside the House is dedicated to the biodiversity of the Gredos region and is designed as a journey through the Gredos Mountain Range, from the Tiétar River to the Tormes River, linking both sides.

Start the route going to the right.

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A flexible panel on the left is entitled: From Tiétar to Tormes, a journey through Gredos. Its right side is attached to a round black column. It shows the profile of the Gredos Mountain Range with the route between the Tiétar and Tormes Rivers that runs through the mountains from the southern to the northern slopes. This orange-coloured panel forms a corridor with the wall to your right, starting your tour of the house.

The route marked on the park map has a legend marking each of its different stages.

Keep going forward.

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Proceed through the house in an anti-clockwise direction, keeping the wall on your right. A round black column supports the left side of a panel that runs perpendicularly into the wall, creating an opening.

This panel is entitled "Meadows and Terraces: Gredos Agriculture" and presents agricultural images together with information on the construction of terraces, plots of land, and crops in the fertile plains of the Tiétar and Tormes Valleys. It delves into the details of agriculture in the area, highlighting crops such as olive trees, fig trees, cherry trees, chestnut trees, walnut trees, and the beans of Barco de Ávila, as well as fruit trees such as peach and apple trees on the northern slopes.

Further on, you will find the Scent Desk, where you can discover the typical aromas of this mountain range.

The next panel deals with the forests of Gredos, different on the north and south sides.

On the northern side of the Park, scrubland is predominant, with piorno scrubs on the summits and high slopes, as well as different of leguminous plants, and heather or rockroses. This slope is almost devoid of trees, except for the pine forests in Navarredonda de Gredos and Hoyos del Espino, and areas of Pyrenean oak in the Tormes Valley and to the east. Holm oak is found predominantly as shrubs, with scarce pasture areas. The landscape is complemented by natural meadows, mowed pastures, orchards, and crops near the villages.

In the south, resin pine forests are common, intertwined with cultivated terraces and olive groves, along with vineyards, cherry, and fig groves. In the flat areas, grasslands and open pastures of holm oak, cork oak, and Pyrenean oak predominate. There are also expanses of rockrose and heather. To the west, in Candeleda, forest degradation due to grazing and excessive logging is noticeable.

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A new orange-coloured panel forms a right angle with the previous one and deals with the first stage of the South-North route, under the title "Tiétar River - Arenas de San Pedro." To the left of the panel, a white line, running from the floor to the ceiling, simulates the path through this section. A photograph of the site, information on the weather conditions along the route, and an information board indicate the points of interest along the route.

On the right side of the panel, which has a black background, a broken line visually represents the route. Just below, information on the route is provided. It is a low-difficulty two-and-a-half-hour hike, with altitudes ranging from 380 to 510 metres. It begins at the confluence of the Ramacastañas River with the Tiétar, covering pastures, crossing the Llanos, with meadows for livestock, riverside woodland, and the characteristic agricultural landscape of the southern foothills of Gredos.

This panel also included observations, such as the accessibility of the route. Since it is an asphalted track, it can be done by car, bicycle, on foot, or on horseback.

Carry on with the visit.

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The next panel marks stage 2: "Arenas de San Pedro and the Guisando Park House." On the left side of the panel, in orange, you can see the mapped route, photos of the points of interest, weather information, and details of the route. This second stage starts at the Castillo Square in Arenas de San Pedro. The first image shows the mediaeval bridge that must be crossed next to the road to Candeleda. After fifteen minutes, the climb begins on a forest track in the skirts of Guayerbas. After an hour's walk, you will leave the path on the left that goes around the Lancharón Peak. You will pass the Collado de Portezuelo one hour and twenty minutes after starting the route. Finally, after an hour and forty-five minutes, you must make a turn to enter Guisando, declared a historic-artistic monument and picturesque landscape.

In the right half of the panel, information is provided. This 1 hour and 40-minute section, of medium-low difficulty and with altitudes of 510 to 780 metres, has forest tracks that are not in an optimal state.

Move towards the space created between the panels on your left.

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You will now come to the plant evolution panel, moving from a burnt forest to a lush one. In this panel, an analogy is drawn between the regeneration of the burnt forest and human life. The left-half of the panel presents an image of a burning forest along with information on the events associated with a forest fire. The right-hand side focuses on the analogy between the regeneration of the forest and a person’s life.

Each phase of this analogy is illuminated by pressing a button. It starts at zero years, at ground level, and moves vertically up the panel until it reaches 80 years, in human life. The ashes of the recently burnt forest are compared to human pregnancy, since among these ashes there are seeds that can germinate, some of them favoured by the fire, such as those of pines or rockroses.

The first vegetation to emerge is herbaceous. The skeletons of the trees still remain in the landscape, corresponding to the first year of human life. At the age of 8, the shrubland begins to stand out. At the age of 18, the shrubland is well developed and the first pine seedlings, born from the pine nuts that germinated after the fire, begin to appear. A forest is created in which pines are the first to emerge, followed by chestnut and oak trees that require a more mature soil and, therefore, emerge later.

Trees do not outgrow shrubs until they are 30 years old. The landscape can be considered forest-like when man reaches 80 years of age, although it cannot be classified as a mature forest yet. In other words, what burns in ten minutes takes a lifetime to grow back into a forest. Turning away from this panel in a right angle, there is another one showing a picture of a regenerated forest.

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The following panel shows images of livestock farming in the region.

In the southern part of the Gredos, goat farming played a crucial role, as it is well adapted to the terrain’s steep slopes.

Goats are very important animals due to their versatility and their economic, environmental, and social contributions. In addition to being a valuable source of milk for the production of dairy products such as cheese and yoghurt, goat meat is a widely consumed source of nutrition. Goats also play a crucial role in weed control and grassland management.

During the warmer months, when the pastures in the lower areas were parched, the goatherds lived in these summer posts in the higher parts of the mountain range to take advantage of the fresh pastures in that area.

The settlement consisted of several buildings with circular stone walls and roofs supported by an internal wooden structure, covered with brooms or piorno shrubs to prevent water from coming in.

The goats were sheltered in berengones, summer stalls, covered with a canopy of branches.

Carry on to the next panel.

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The following panel informs about the stage that goes from the Park House to Nogal del Barranco.

This new section of the route has an estimated duration of one hour and forty minutes and passes next to the Guisando campsite.

If you go a little further along the route, you can visit Collado de Arbillas and Nogal del Barranco recreational area, which is the last point that can be reached by car. Following the route along the Carril de los Galayos and taking a detour to the left, you will come to a restored goatherd's hut, with huts, a cheese dairy, a zahurda pigsty, and a berengón goat stall.

To continue the route, you must return to the Nogal del Barranco recreational area.

In the right-half of the panel, information is provided. The section lasts an hour and a half, with a medium difficulty and altitudes of 780 to 1240 metres. This path is intended for highly-skilled hikers.

Turn towards the wall.

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Behind the previous panel, there are two adjacent panels, one attached to the wall and the other perpendicular to it. On the perpendicular panel, a photograph of a male ibex is shown under the caption "The summits of the goat."

The presence of the ibex is very significant in this mountain range. The mountain goat is best adapted to the rocky areas of this ecosystem, such as in the Galayos area, a set of peaks and gorges between the rocks, formed by periglacial erosion.

Mountain goats are large animals with a robust and muscular body. Males are larger than females and have long, curved, lyre-shaped horns. They feed on grasses, shrubs, and leaves. They are social animals that live in groups of up to 50 individuals.

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The following panel attached to the wall details the fourth stage of the route, which goes from Nogal del Barranco to the Victory Refuge, a mountain refuge located in front of Los Galayos. This stage involves a three-and-a-half-hour hike, passing at altitudes varying between 1220 and 1980 metres.

Starting at the car parks of the Nogal del Barranco recreational area or the Nogal del Barranco Platform, the route goes along Carril de los Galayos, Apretura, and the Zetas path before reaching the Victory refuge.

The Victory mountain refuge, located at an altitude of 1950 metres, was opened in 1949 by the Royal Peñalara Mountaineering Society. It is named after Antonio Victory Rojas, an outstanding Castilian mountaineer and a key figure in the formation of the Spanish Mountaineering Federation. The refuge has passed into the hands of the Grupo Gredos de Montaña and is guarded during the summer months and weekends during the rest of the year, with part of the refuge remaining open when the guard is not there. It is an essential place for mountain lovers who wish to explore the area.

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Next, you can find a window and a climbing wall on the next wall.

Los Galayos is an outstanding reference point for climbing throughout Spain, with the Torreón de los Galayos being the emblem of the Spanish Mountaineering Federation. As a result of this distinction, there is a small climbing wall in the house.

Los Galayos is a high mountain environment, characterised by imposing, vertical walls and peaks with challenging gorges. Although there are easier routes, their difficulty should not be underestimated, as the terrain is very demanding. The ideal season for climbing here is during spring, summer, and fall, avoiding very cold days or after snowfall, as the altitude is over 2000 metres.

On the wall, there is a panel detailing the climbing routes on one of the peaks of Los Galayos: María Luisa Peak.

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On the same façade as the climbing wall, you can find the panel regarding the fifth stage, which goes from the Victory Refuge to La Mira, one of the highest points in the valley, located at an altitude of 2343 metres.

From the summit of La Mira, which is reached on this fifth stage, you can see most of the villages on the southern slopes, as far as the Toledo Mountains and the Villuercas Mountain Range.

From the Victory refuge, you can reach two mountain passes, the first one is also known as the "fake one", as its name is: La Puerta Falsa, the False Door, which leads to the cliffs of the Reseca Canal.

If you take the second pass, you will reach the watershed and the remains of the Pelaos Refuge, built in the time of Alfonso XIII. From here, you can continue to the summit of La Mira, which offers views of both slopes and the peaks of the Gredos Cirque. At the top of La Mira, there is a circular stone wall that may be the remains of an old optical telegraph.

The right-half of the panel provides information. Hiking this section takes one hour and forty-five minutes, it has a high level of difficulty and altitudes of 1980 to 2343 metres. Notions of mountain orienteering are required.

Turn until this panel is behind you.

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Opposite the fifth stage panel, several panels make up the middle wall of this room.

The first boasts illustrations of the animals of the Gredos region that live in the high part of the mountain range, where most of the endemic species are found. At a distance of half a metre from the panel, there is a pedestal with interactive buttons. This device illuminates each of the species when you touch the relevant buttons. Next to each button, there is a legend providing detailed information about each species. Options include common vulture, water pipit, Gredos toad, snow vole, European smooth snake, the Almanzor salamander, common rock thrush, dunnock, mountain lizard, bluethroat, mountain goat, and otter.

The common vulture, whose diet is based on carrion, contributes to the balance of the ecosystem by eliminating animal remains. These social birds form colonies and play an important role in nature as recyclers.

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The following panel details the sixth stage, which runs from La Mira to the northern platform of Gredos. It descends to an altitude of 1770 metres, leaving the Riscos de los Campanarios to the left and reaching Prado Puerto. At this point, you have to choose between accessing the Barbellido gorge or ascending to Refugio del Rey, leaving the Candeleda pass to the left. Refugio del Rey was built in 1914 and today only its ruins remain.

The path continues along Prado Pozas, crossing the path of the Laguna Grande de Gredos, until it reaches the platform, surrounded by imposing stone cliffs and picturesque waterfalls.

The right-half of this panel provides information. The section, which takes about three hours and is of medium difficulty, has a very steep difference in gradients and, since there are no marked trails, you need to know how to find your way around the mountain.

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The next panel is entitled "The footprint of ice" and highlights the mark left by the glaciers with three photographs of the Gredos Mountain Range. Pressing the button below, the images illuminates the limit of the glacier's shoulder in the Gredos Cirque. The image includes the Almanzor peak, at 2592 metres it’s the highest altitude in Gredos and the entire Central System. The Gredos Cirque is an amphitheatre-shaped depression surrounded by high peaks and mountain ridges. It is characterised by impressive landscapes of glacial origin, with lagoons and moraines. The Gredos Cirque is known for its scenic beauty and geological importance.

This valley was the pathway through which the ice flowed, carrying different materials in it. When the ice retreated, it left deposits of stones of different sizes and irregular shapes, known as lateral moraines. These formations can be found on the Laguna Grande route.

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The following panel presents the seventh and last stage connecting the northern platform with the Park House in Hoyos del Espino. The descent starts from the Gredos Platform, crossing the river by the Puente de las Juntas. This natural site has several pools suitable for bathing, with some meadows and large granite formations, covering over 500 metres from of the Barbellido River, a tributary of the Tormes.

After this, you have to climb up to an elevation that separates the Barbellido Valley from the Tormes Valley, to finally descend to a recreational area next to the Tormes River. A steep slope leads you to the Pinos Cimeros Park House in Hoyos del Espino.

It is an easy section, about 25 minutes by car or one hour on a mountain bike, with altitudes ranging from 1770 to 1400 metres. The landscape is dominated by grassland, which spreads out evenly, while the pine trees, with their tall trunks and scattered branches, add height to the surroundings.

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The next panel, entitled "Do you know the name of the birds of prey that fly over the room?", focuses on birds of prey, presenting photographs and relevant information about these species. In the centre of this space, in front of the panel, there is a stele with an interactive feature that includes a game you play by pushing buttons. There are two columns, each with six buttons. The first column associates each button with the silhouette of a raptor in flight, while the second column is linked to names and information about the raptors. The game consists of matching each silhouette with the name of the bird of prey it represents. When the silhouette and the name match, the life-size model of the raptor hanging from the ceiling is illuminated. The birds represented are the black kite, goshawk, golden eagle, buzzard, short-toed eagle, and black vulture.

The black kite, with its dark plumage, mainly forages for carrion. The goshawk, an agile falcon, hunts birds in forests with its short wings. At high altitudes, the golden eagle, with its large wingspan, specialises in catching mammals in mountainous areas. The buzzard, common in many regions, hunts a variety of prey in the air. The short-toed eagle is known to feed on snakes and reptiles in open habitats. Finally, the black vulture, with its dark plumage, plays a vital role in removing carrion. Each of these birds makes a unique contribution to maintaining the balance in their respective environments.

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Perpendicular to the raptor panel, the new panel asks: Do you want to know where the landscapes are?

This panel has photographs with the name and information of different places of interest throughout the park. They are all numbered and are located on an orthophoto of the park, placed on the ground in front of the panel.

The places of interest shown in the photos on the panel are:

1 Puerto Del Pico, part of Cañada Leonesa.

2 Barranco De Las Cinco Villas, valley close to Guisando.

3 Valle Del Río Arenal, is on the road to El Hornillo and El Arenal.

4 Arenas De San Pedro, capital of the region, a town rich in history and monuments.

5 River Arbillas, gorge with dense oak and chestnut groves.

6 Santa María Gorge, covered with Pyrenean oaks, loro laurels, and hackberry trees.

7 The Rosarito Reservoir, located outside the park but notable for its wealth of aquatic birds.

8 Our Lady of Chilla Sanctuary, eight kilometres away from Candeleda.

9 Castro Celta Del Raso, an ancient Celtic settlement of the Vetons.

10 Gredos Cirque, the highlight of the regional park.

11 Charco De Las Paredes, located in the gorge of Barbellido.

12 Cinco Lagunas Cirque, spectacular examples of glacial modelling.

13 Garganta De Bohoyo, which starts in the village of Bohoyo.

14 Laguna Del Duque, in Solana de Ávila, near Barco de Ávila.

15 Las Chorreras, spectacular granite rocks that mark the Tormes River, between Hoyos del Espino and Navarredonda de Gredos.

Exit this space through the gap formed between the end of this panel and the back wall of the room, entering the Memory Corner.

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To the right of the entrance hall, you will find a corridor leading to the audio-visual room and to the right, again, the Resin Corner, a space that ends in an emergency exit and is used for temporary exhibits. In this corner, there is a showcase displaying tools and utensils used in the extraction of the resin.

To extract the resin, the resin makers made incisions in the trunks to stimulate its production. The resin is used in the manufacture of products such as varnishes and adhesives. This process requires specific skill and knowledge to maximise production without damaging the tree.

The audio-visual room presents photographs of the fauna and flora, some of which are endemic to the Park. This room has a multi-purpose use, serving also as a space for presentations and workshops. The audio-visual content entitled "Gredos, Refuge, and Frontier" lasts 20 minutes and shows the diversity of the fauna and flora of the Gredos Mountain Range.

On leaving the audio-visual room, on your right, there is a camera that records the mountain range in real time.

To the left of this room is the corridor leading to the toilets.

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Return to the entrance of this corridor.

The back of the panel containing the park's places of interest is perpendicular to another panel, both dedicated to ethnography. The back of the front panel has posters with the photos, names, and phrases of writers who have spoken about Gredos: Camilo José Cela, Gregorio Marañón, Manuel de Unamuno, and George Barrow. The next panel, perpendicular to this one and parallel to the wall, has photos of the 28 villages that make up the park and a photo dedicated to Alfonso XIII and the protection of the Gredos region.

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In the centre of the room, a short wall runs parallel to the wall. It is ten centimetres wide by one and a half a metre high. It boasts the title: "Ways of life, trades, and traditions" contains photographs and display cases with different objects that tell the story of how the goatherds and the people who extracted wood from the forest used to live. At the ends of this wall there are two models inside the display cases that compare the traditional house in the north with another one in the south and make reference to the differences between the two sides of the mountain range: north, cold and snow; and south, warmth and water.

In the north, the snow problem is solved by steeper roofs, insulating everything with stone and using smaller windows.

In the south, even if it rains, water runs off flatter roofs. The houses have balconies for drying fruits such as figs and paprika and a wooden framework on an outer wall, which used to be adobe. The lower part of the house is made of stone, to insulate it from humidity.

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On the wall opposite the panel and the models, you can find some old tools that were used in agriculture, livestock, and forestry work. Hanging from the roof, there is a net that was placed on carts to transport straw.

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On a shelf on the wall, you will see a model of a goatherd's hut, where the shepherds lived in the summer months.

This meticulously rendered ensemble reveals the traditional life of the goatherds in their mountainous environment. The zahurda, a traditional pigsty, together with the oven for baking bread, are evidence of the self-sufficiency of these livestock farmers. The dwelling hut and the berengón, used to shelter the goats, reflect the simplicity and functionality of their summer dwellings. The cheese factory completes this scene, indicating the importance of cheese production, a common activity among the goatherds in the area.

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Go to the corner of the room where there are two wooden pillars where you can hear the legend of the Galayos, by pressing the button on one of the pillars, and, on the second one, the legend of Almanzor, which is the highest peak in the Gredos Mountain Range.

Exit this room, skirting to the left at the end of the panel dedicated to the villages of the park.

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The last area of the house is dedicated to the RANP, the acronym for the Network of Protected Natural Areas of Castilla y León. As you enter, on the right wall, a map shows the RANP. Just below, a table displays samples of some of the trees and shrubs in the space. In front of this wall, a panel provides additional information about other natural areas of the Network.

At the end of this panel, you will find a creative corner called "Leave your mark", where visitors can leave drawings or photographs and a guest book and suggestion box where they can write poetry, personal impressions, or signatures.

Here, you can conclude your visit or move on to the next track, which will take you back to the resin corner.

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If you go back to the Resin Corner, you can go out through the emergency door and access the "Botanical garden path", which is cordoned out by ropes and runs through the trees, shrubs, and aromatic plants of the garden. On the other hand, you can also walk from the garden along the accessible path, which is made entirely of wood and runs through a resin pine forest. It has two panels adapted for the visually impaired, with letters and drawings in high relief and Braille, in Spanish; one on "Footprints and signs in the pine forest" and the other on "The resin pine."

With this audio track, the visit to the Risquillo Park House in the southern area of the Gredos Mountain Range comes to an end, where we’ve discovered the uniqueness of its landscapes, and the richness of its fauna, flora and orography that create a unique and idyllic ecosystem, which is also reflected in the local products and gastronomy.

If you would like more details, you are welcome to come to the reception desk or speak to any of the collaborators at the Park House.

Thank you for your visit.