Region covered by this guide
This guide covers the central part of the Spanish Pyrenees, including the dry, desert-like Ebro basin to its south. Administratively, this is the northern part of the Autonomous region of Aragón and coincides for the larger part with the province of Huesca. This guide covers the some famous Pyrenean valleys and sierras:
- Ordesa and Monte Perdido National Park
- Aneto and Benasque
- Jaca and the Hecho Valley
- Sierra de Guara and the Somontano
- Los Monegros (including Belchite / El Planerón)
- Laguna de Gallocanta
The Crossbill Guide is a thorough and practical guide for naturalists and nature lovers. It offers background information, routes and site descriptions, plus tips on finding and watching all kinds of wildlife. Each route offers detailed descriptions of where to find birds, wildlife and wildflowers. The book offers a mix of walking routes and car itineraries with stops and short walks. Although some are challenging, all the walks in this book are designed to explore the landscape and find birds and wildlife rather than simply covering ground.
About the Spanish Pyrenees and steppes of Huesca
Huesca is the northern province of Aragón and covers the whole of the central Spanish Pyrenees and much of the arid, desert-like lowlands of the Ebro river. The diversity in landscapes, flora and fauna of this relatively small area is immense and ranks among the highest in Europe. The area comprises of three regions:
- the high Pyrenees,
- the Sierras Exteriores
- the Ebro basin
About the authors
Dirk Hilbers (NL, 1976), set up the Crossbill Guides Foundation and travels Europe to research the guidebooks. This is the 11th guide on which he has worked. As a biologist, when not in the field, Dirk Hilbers is a free-lance writer and lecturer in the field of environmental ethics.
Kees Woutersen (NL, 1956) has lived in Huesca (Spain) for 20 years, working as a nature and bird guide throughout Spain. He runs his own travel company and is author of various books on birds and natural history, mostly about the birds and mammals of the Pyrenees. This is the first Crossbill Guide he wrote but he later followed on with other guides to areas in Spain and Portugal.
Luc Aarts –
Voordat ik dit deel van de Crossbill Guides in bezit had kende ik het gebied dat in Spanish Pyrenees wordt beschreven al behoorlijk goed door een aantal wandelvakanties die ik er doorbracht. Toch ontdekte ik door dit handige, schitterend uitgevoerde boek nog veel bijzondere plekken en gebieden die ik nog niet eerder had bezocht. Ik heb diverse van de beschreven wandelingen en autotochtjes gemaakt, allemaal van elkaar verschillend en allemaal prachtig. Dit boek gebruikte ik als voorbereiding daarop, maar ook als naslagwerk om meer van de landschappen aan de weet te komen. Heel praktisch is de beknopte informatie aan het begin van elke autoroute en wandeling, zodat je snel ziet wat je tijdens een tocht kunt verwachten. Spanish Pyrenees is een aanrader voor elke natuurliefhebber en wandelaar die dit heel afwisselende deel van Spanje gaat bezoeken.