Is 5 days too long for the Picos?

[Wile E Coyote]

Heading to the Picos in late August, hopefully wild camping, is 5 days too long for this area and if so what other diversions would you recommend? The wilder the better!
All ideas gratefully received!

 

[Jimbike]

Hi neighbour

I've been to the Picos several years ago and spent 5 days each on a different trail. There are some beautiful places and trails and was pretty wild so I'd say there is plenty to see as long as you like mountain scenery.

 

[Wile E Coyote]

Cheers Jim, were the trails on or off road? I'd be interested to hear more of where you rode, we'd need to stay mostly on tarmac...where abouts in our fair county are you?

 

[Jimbike]

It was off road. I had an XT550 and a friend on an XTZ750 rode through France and camped for the week in Potes.
I bought a local map and had advice from a TBM article, I think. We had a great time and I have some photos on my Flickr.http://www.flickr.com/photos/10856062@N07/sets/72157625358666193/
I'm in Hingham and you're quite welcome to come over and be bored by my holiday snaps!

To be more helpful I have just found the map I used with some of the trails I used marked. I can't guarantee they are still open but you're welcome to take notes or copy it.

Cheers
Jim

 

[muppix]

The Picos will be crowded around then, suggest you head south a bit to the Sierre de la Demanda or similar. Wild camping is forbidden in the parks (as far as I know) but I can point you in the direction of several nice campsites if you wish.

 

[Wile E Coyote]

Jim, thanks for the pics, i think your trails look great but maybe a bit much for my GS!

Muppix, tell me more about the Sierre de la Demanda would you?

The whole area looks great, we're sailing into Gijon, I'm thinking of doing a bit of a loop east towards the Pyrennes then maybe south to the Sierre de la Demanda then west to the northern tip of Portugal before returning back along the Picos to the ferry port. Any good camp site ideas are always gratefully received, always nice to find somewhere with a decent shower every few days!!

 

[muppix]

Muppix, tell me more about the Sierre de la Demanda would you?

Not much to say really except that I prefer quiet campsites with a basic bar and facilities to those with pools, adventure playgrounds, and screaming kids. Same goes for my preference of surroundings when riding; I found the roads in the Picos to be crowded and and the towns full of overpriced tourist tat, Potes even has a McDonalds for christ's sake.

Head south-east a bit but stay in the areas of the map that still has closely grouped contour lines and you'll end up in areas like the Sierra de la Demanda, which is far better than the Picos (in my opinion, natch) because the roads are just as good but you get them to yourself, because the locals are friendly and the tourists few. OK, so you may have to battle with the language a bit more to get things done and you may have to accept that you're not always walking distance to a shop that sells everything, but for me that's part of the fun.

Some of these pictures were taken in the Picos, some in the Sierra. I was there for the HUMM and my friends kindly brought my DRZ down in their van while I enjoyed a 2 week touring / camping holiday on the GS. If you're interested in the GPX file (and specific camping waypoints) I can probably dig that out for you once I return home in early Feb.