Revelillas – Hiking Between Forests and Romanesque Heritage

Revelillas lies at the foot of La Lora, surrounded by beech and oak forests. When looking for a hotel for your trip to Revelillas, consider whether you would like to focus your stay mainly on hiking or on the town’s Romanesque heritage. A circular route starts and ends in the village; other places of cultural and historical interest include the parish church of San Esteban.

The Circular Route: Distance, Elevation Gain and Trail

The Revelillas–Pozo de los Lobos–Mirador de Valcabado circular route is 10.51 kilometres long. It has an elevation gain of 375 metres and an estimated total duration of four hours. This makes it easy to plan the hike as a separate activity during your stay. The figures for distance, ascent and duration give you concrete points of reference for planning your day.

The route to the Pozo de los Lobos starts at Revelillas’ Plaza and initially climbs along a track through a Pyrenean oak forest. After 200 metres along the marked turn-off, you reach the wolf trap. On the return to Revelillas, the circular route passes through the beech forest of Monte Ahedo. This means the oak forest on the ascent and the beech forest on the return are different sections of the same hike.

Pozo de los Lobos and Mirador de Valcabado

The Pozo de los Lobos is a dry-stone structure that was used for wolf hunting over many centuries. Two walls arranged in a triangular shape extend several hundred metres apart and converge at a deep, circular pit where the wolf was meant to be trapped. The structure’s design clearly illustrates its historical purpose and gives the route a cultural and historical focus alongside the landscape.

The Mirador de Valcabado is on the edge of La Lora de Valdivia in Pomar de Valdivia, in the province of Palencia; a route from Revelillas leads to it. The viewpoint sits on a natural balcony above the beech forest of Monte Ahedo and offers views over the Valderredible valley. One of the most frequently used routes to the viewpoint also passes through the Hayedo de Revelillas.

Romanesque Heritage and Local History

The parish church of San Esteban has Romanesque origins and was remodelled several times, during the Gothic period, including in the 15th century, and in later eras. The bell-gable wall and the baptismal font are the surviving elements of the Romanesque structure. The font is hemispherical, carefully decorated and made of sandstone limestone. A regional route of Romanesque baptismal fonts published in 2015 includes San Esteban in Revelillas.

There are also details of cultural and historical interest outside the church: the Cueva del Tío Moreno is a small, well-preserved hypogeum carved into sandstone beneath the cemetery. Four threshing-floor huts have survived outside the village. The local festival of San Esteban is celebrated on 3 August and 27 December.

A Neolithic axe found on a field in Revelillas in 2017 has been held by the Museo de Prehistoria y Arqueología de Cantabria (MUPAC) since 2019 and was intended to become part of its collection. A 2019 report described the find as very interesting because such objects are rare in the Autonomous Community; it may be one of the oldest traces of human settlement in the valley.

More Routes and How to Get There

For mountain biking, a track runs west from Revelillas, passing the Arregueras Reservoir. The reservoir was built to supply irrigation water; after a little over eight kilometres, the track reaches Pomar de Valdivia. This provides another described way to explore the landscape around Revelillas alongside the circular route.

The drive to Revelillas follows the CA-273, which connects Villanueva de la Nía with Quintanilla de las Torres in Palencia. About one kilometre from Villanueva de la Nía, the CA-751 turns off towards Villamoñico; from there, a local road leads to Revelillas. This sequence of roads provides clear directions for your journey.

Discover more destinations: Hermandad De Campoo De Suso, Ucieda, Los Corrales De Buelna, Limpias, Rumoroso, Penagos, Reocín, Miengo.

For the regional travel guide: Cantabria.