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Photo: Bruno Barral, CC BY-SA 3.0 via Wikimedia Commons
The Bardenas Reales is a semi-desert natural region, or badlands, of some 42,000 hectares in southeast Navarre (Spain). The soils are made up of clay, chalk, and sandstone and have been eroded by water and wind creating surprising shapes, canyons, plateaus, tabular structures, and isolated hills, called cabezos. Bardenas Reales lacks urban areas, vegetation is scarce and the many streams that cross the territory have a markedly seasonal flow, staying dry most of the year.
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A beautiful hike, alongside some ethereal, unreal looking turquoise pools and through some truly breathtaking views within the National Park of Urbasa-Andia. It is an easy 5-km walk (3 hours round trip walk) which takes you from the small village of Baquedano to the source of the River Urederra; a waterfall easily reached by foot for families This is not the only hike to do in the park, which has a variety of walks of various lengths (up to 24 km) and difficulty among some spectacular countryside. Access to the park is regulated for conservation purposes but free to access and you should book on their website prior to going. There are 450 tickets available a day, of which 60% are bookable online, with the remaining allocated to those who turn up. You can get to the park either by renting a car and driving to the area where there is a small car park (€3 for parking) or by public transport where from San Sebastian, the trip to Urederra can be broken into two legs.
The first leg is to Alsasua, which is easily reached by train or bus from San Sebastian, each taking roughly 90 minutes.
Bus timetables for Alsa are available on their website. However, the Alsa bus stop in Alsasua is not marked (and worse its location on a map may be incorrectly marked as being on Calle San Juan) but it is outside a residential home for elderly people on Calle Idertzagain.
The second leg involves a 30-minute taxi ride (€40 one way) from Alsasua, (+34 608776154, Taxi Goikoetxea - Spanish-speaking only) to Baquedano. If you have not put together a picnic, the bakeries and cafes along San Juan make for a good choice as Baquedano has no shops. Remember to arrange in good time the taxi ride back to Alsasua for the bus/train back..