Reserva del Saja

Saja-Besaya Natural Park, declared on 2 May 1988, occupies the mountain area between the basins of the rivers Saja and Besaya, in Cantabria. With 24,500 hectares, it is the largest natural park in the region, spread across six municipalities: Arenas de Iguña, Cabuérniga, Cieza, Hermandad de Campoo de Suso, Ruente and Los Tojos.

Its summits reach 2,084 metres at Cueto Iján and 2,061 at Cueto Cordel. There are oak woods, beech woods, chestnuts, holly groves, birch woods and rowans, and red deer, wild boar, roe deer, wolf, otter and golden eagle live here; the brown bear inhabits the southwest.

Red deer were reintroduced in 1949, and Bárcena Mayor was declared a historic site in 1979. The interpretation centre is 1.5 km from Saja, on the road to the Palombera pass, open all year and free of charge.

Source of the information: Parque natural de Saja-Besaya (Wikipedia)