Encounter with the bear along the Vía Verde Senda del Oso

Valleys, pastures and rural villages define the landscape of Asturias in northern Spain, where one of the most famous routes of the Vías Verdes, the Senda del Oso, the Bear's Path, runs. The cycling and walking route is about fifty kilometres long and follows the route of an old mining railway southwest of Oviedo, through the unique valleys of Proaza, Quirós, Santo Adriano and Teverga. The most popular section of the Senda del Oso is the eleven-kilometre section that runs parallel to the Trubia river, from Tuñón to Caranga Baxu. Practicable all year round, it is particularly suitable for families with children because the big attraction, near the recreational area of Buyera, are the Cercados Oseros, the enclosures where Cantabrian brown bears unable to adapt to the natural environment live, placed under the care of the Asturian Bear Foundation. It is here that, after being found injured, the bear Molina, born in 2013, currently lives in semi-captivity.