We have been wanting to write this post for so long, and now with the Summer around the corner we felt like the moment arrived: time to discover the beautiful national parks in Spain! But as we usually do with these type of articles, we made a special list: we found a US National Park soulmate to some of the most beautiful National Parks in Spain (yes, we did that again just for fun so please don’t get offended :P)
Yosemite National Park – Parc Nacional d’Aigüestortes i estany de Sant Maurici (Lleida)
Parc Naciona d’Aiguestortes i Estany de Sant Maurici is the one and only national park in Catalonia and guess what: We-just-love-it. Pallars Sobirà is one of our favorite areas in the country, so when we have the chance we drive to the north and a visit to the Aiguestortes National Park is a mandatory stop. And since it is one of the most majestic mountain landscapes we have, we find its majestic soulmate in the United States: Yosemite National Park.
Glacier National Park – Parque Nacional de Sierra Nevada (Granada-Almería)
We fall in love with mountains so easily, so it is no surprise if we say that we are madly in love with the Glacier National Park. We remember the hike to the avalanche lake as one of the most epic and beautiful, we couldn’t stop staring at it (with binoculars so as not to lose any detail ;-))
So in this case, we should choose as a soulmate in Spain the Parque Nacional de Sierra Nevada. A beautiful natural park with stunning mountains, which cover themselves with a white blanket of snow so easily in the winter. It is not as spectacular as the Glacier National Park, to be honest, but it also has a special beauty that any mountain lover will surely appreciate.
Yellowstone National Park – Parque Nacional de Timanfaya (Lanzarote)
Yellowstone landscapes and wildlife felt magic. Like entering another world. And after acknowledging that we were actually walking above a caldera which is believed to erupt every 600.000 years, it felt magic but also… scary? It is called a super volcano because it has x100 the potential when erupting, compared to a regular volcano. And okay, we are going dramatic here but scientists predict that the next eruption might kill all of humanity.
So when it comes to finding the Spanish soulmate to Yellowstone, we have no doubts here: Parque Natural de Timanfaya. This is a volcano area in the island of Lanzarote with amazing scenarios which kind of teleport you to other planets.
Grand Canyon National Park – Parque Nacional de Ordesa y Monte Perdido (Huesca)
We paired these two for a reason: both have a well-known canyon and both offer myriad scenarios that might leave you breathless: Colorado river gorge and Cañón de Ordesa (the Pyrenees version of the Grand Canyon ;-))
We obviously know that the Grand Canyon is one of the most spectacular national parks with its Colorado River gorge, which is considered one of the natural wonders of the world. But Parque Natural de Ordesa y Monte Perdido has also spectacular landscapes to offer (check out the weather conditions and the level of the hikes before leaving home, since it is a pretty wild national park in the heart of the Pyrenees). One of the most majestic national parks in Spain.
These are some of the most famous National Parks in Spain, but did you know that there are actually 15 national parks in the country?
- Parque Nacional del Teide (Tenerife)
- Parque Nacional de Garajonay (La Gomera)
- Parque Nacional de la Caldera de Taburiente (La Palma)
- Parque Nacional del Archipiélago de Cabrera (Baleares)
- Parque Nacional de los Picos de Europa (Asturias-Cantabria-León)
- Parque Nacional de Cabañeros (Ciudad Real-Toledo)
- Parque Nacional de las Tablas de Daimiel (Ciudad Real)
- Parque Nacional de las Islas Atlànticas de Galicia (Pontevedra-A Coruña)
- Parque Nacional de Doñana (Huelva-Sevilla-Cádiz)
- Parque Nacional de la Sierra de Guadarrama (Madrid-Segovia)
- Parque Nacional de Monfragüe (Cáceres)
Now is your turn: would you have switched some of the parks, did you find a better national park soulmate to any of these? Have you explored some of the National Parks in Spain? Share your views with us in the comment section below ;-)