Moal Forest Route

Route Description

If you have not obtained permission to enter the Muniellos Reserve, the Moal Forest Route (PR.AS-132) is your best alternative. In fact, locals call it “the Muniellos Gate” because it shares the same ecosystem: a mature and wild Atlantic forest.

The route starts from Moal, an elongated town enclosed in the valley, and ascends quickly along a road. As we climb, we find curtains, those circular stone constructions more than two meters high designed to protect the honey of the bears’ favorite treat.

The highlight is the Montecín Viewpoint. From here, the view sneaks into the interior of the Muniellos valley, allowing us to admire the immensity of the best preserved oak forest in Spain.

It is an ideal route to do in autumn, when the forest explodes in a palette of ochres, reds and yellows.

💡 Practical Tips

• Brown Bear: You’re in his house. It is common to see traces or footprints. Silence and respect.
• Footwear: The descent may have sections of mud and loose leaves.
• Permit: For this route NO permit is required, unlike visiting the interior of the Reserve.
• Corripas: Look at some stone constructions with ventilation holes; They were used to cure chestnuts.

📸 Key Points

• The Montecín Viewpoint and the views of Muniellos.
• The bear curtains.
• The vegetal tunnel formed by beech and oak trees.