Senda del Cares

Beautiful 12km (one way) trail along Rio Cares gorge. The path is wide enough and well maintained, but personally I would not recommend it for somebody who has no head for heights.

Hiked the trail from Poncebos to Caín and back, which took about 6 hours of hiking time (not including stops). The nicest hike in Los Picos and probably once of the best ones I've done. I would only consider the beginning/end (Poncebos side) to be intermediate, since it's a bit steep and slippery, but the rest of the hike is pretty easy.

I would recommend starting early though, since it's quite popular and the trail can get busy. I also suggest starting from Poncebos, since you would we hiking with the sun behind you.

Long and beautiful. No toilets on the way. Only in Cain or Poncebos. Not a lot of space to park your car.

Spectacular hike! Amazing 360 views from start to finish. Total distance if you hike from town to town and back is about 16miles and 2000ish feet. The first 1.5 miles is climbing and then the trail levels out and it's an easy hike. Highly recommend doing this hike, expect to take about 6 hours if you are stopping and taking pictures

Incredible hike. Up there with my favorites. Tied as one of the best hikes in Spain and even Europe.

We parked in Poncebos, starter at 9am, walked all the way to Cain and back. 30 kilometres and it took us about 6 hours of walking.

Egyptian vultures flying overhead in the morning and mountain goats that come right up to the path.

I recommend starting early as it is quieter and more chance of seeing wildlife. There are lots of restaurants for lunch in Cain.

As someone who doesn't hike this was a nice trail. Some parts are a little rocky but most of it is pretty flat. Only went about half way up but know the rest was about the same. Not extremely challenging but there are some big drops on the side which could be scary for those with vertigo.
Also great seeing all the wild goats 🐐

PR-PNPE-3 “La Ruta del Cares” is known to be one of the top trails to do in the Picos! We decided to go on this hike from Poncebos to Cain…and back! It is 22km roundtrip and around 3 hours each way. We went in the summer and started out at 8:30am when the sun was still coming up as parking fills up fast. The trail starts off a bit steep and meanders along the edge of the mountain. It does start to level out after a while. The ground is rocky and you should wear walking shoes. We had planned on walking the same route back however we didn’t bank on how exhausted we would feel from doing the hike out. We had just hiked 11km the previous day so probably were feeling a bit tired! It was nice to rest and have an ice cream in the little cafes in Cain before starting the journey back. We bought extra water in Cain as used up our bottles hiking there. It was a lot hotter on the way back! The views were fabulous in both directions. If you don’t like heights then there are parts where I would not recommend looking down! The trail does get quite narrow in places (less than 2 metres wide) and some sheer drop-offs into the canyon. Also we would not do this hike in bad weather as can imagine that it could get quite slippery. We were very lucky with the weather as there was a storm visible as we finished the hike which was bad the following day. It was fun to see lots of mountain goats on the trail. Just to note: Due to the location of the trail/mountain range, it would be a very expensive taxi to get back to Poncebos from Cain. It would actually take longer to go back in a car than it would take to hike it.

This is an excellent day trip. The full hike is 2x 11km if you do not decide to turn around half way. The first part from Poncebos is a steep climb of about 300m. From there it is more or less flat. There is a bus service from Las Arenas, which is good for environment and makes Poncebos less messy BUT (!) god only knows why they have no service between 13:30 and 17:30 and then they write that 17:30 is a peak hour. This should be improved. Once you know it - a great day adventure.

Fantastic scenery. Looks dramatic but is actually an easy hike for regular hikers. Lots of goats to add to the fun. Keep your dogs on a lead at all times.

One of the best hikes in Europe I have been on. As others have said the first climb is a but rough but after that it's pretty smooth sailing. Took my partner and I of normal fitness 2h30 each way for the full route. We also went in off season (late October) so there was no crowds and reasonable weather. If you are brave there is another route near the water level on the way back, the start is at the rocky slope near the highest point on the hike. Really can't recommend this enough

This walk is very beautiful. I definitely recommend it if you are in the area. However ensure you go VERY early - we luckily got parked at 9.30am but it was one of the last spaces and it was stressful getting turned etc.

Spectacular route! 5 Stars for this amazing experience!
I would recommend starting early in the morning (I started at 6 AM) to get the best views and a beautiful sunrise!

On the way back I met a ton of tourists. Only downside to this route :)

Considered by most the best trekking in Picos de Europa, this trail goes for 11km along the canyon until Cain (3h), one way.
Expect around 7h to go and return to Poncebos (22km), with stopovers for pictures and lunch. The views are amazing!
Start early in the morning (around 8h) as in the afternoon the sun can get too hot, specially in the summer.

Very nice hike. If you start from Pacebos, you start with the toughest part (500 m to climb in total). One way to Cains, you have to count 4 hours if you want to take a bit of time for photos. After the first hour, it‘s mostly flat. Spectacular views but in August a bit of a highway. Still despite this very beautiful.

Breathtaking, mind-blowing, humbling, spectacular... A must-do. We walked the trail one way, from Poncebos to Cain. We went on a Tuesday in July and started early (8 a.m.) to beat the sun and the crowds. This turned out to be a great idea as there were truly very few people on the trail and for long stretches of time, we were alone, surrounded by the imposing mountains, and were able to enjoy the peace and quiet. We parked at the funicular de Bulnes ; turns out we could have kept driving past the bridge (where the arrow points towards the Ruta del Cares) and saved ourselves the extra 1-km walk from the parking lot to the start of the trail.
I was very nervous ahead of the hike because I'd read comments about how scary it is when you realize there's no railing or anything along the path, just a sheer drop down to the river below. But the trail is the width of a sidewalk and if you stay on the inside, close to the mountain, you feel quite safe. We passed quite a few families hiking with their kids.
I had also read that once we arrived in Cain, there would be buses and shared taxis to get back to Poncebos. We arrived in Cain at 12 and as it turned out, the next bus wasn't going to come for another 4 hours... We were too exhausted to hike the 13km back to our car and decided to wait around for a shared taxi. The cost of a taxi ride back to Poncebos is 125 euros. We kept trying to find 2 or 4 other people with which to share a taxi but most people were hiking back or waiting for the bus. If you know you won't be walking the trail back to Poncebos, please consider making arrangements for a ride back in advance--unless you plan on getting to Cain after 3pm, in which case there will be a couple of buses. In the end things worked out well for us as we found a guided jeep ride back that took us on a magical ride through the Picos.

Impressive way through the canyon. I only can recommend doing this.

Sensational walk and is a must do if you can, hard to do both ways but a lot of people do, so logistics for start and finish are so important. The best way is to use an organised tour which will sort out doing it one way. If it's hot and sunny you need plenty of water and food. Parking at either start is limited especially for a campervan and impossible for a large motorhome.

Breathtaking views! Easy enough walk but will take you all day if you go both ways.

Such a beautiful trail, easy and with wonderful views.

Very scenic and beautiful route. We walked from Poncebos to Caín. And the goats really made our day :)