Cascada de Penaladros

Valle de Mena / Castilla y Leon Region, Burgos, Spain

About Cascada de Penaladros

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Waterfall Safety and Common Sense

The Cascada de Penaladros (or more accurately, Cascada de Peñaladros) was where the rushing Río San Miguel dropped some 15m into a lush ravine.

Unlike most of the waterfalls on our visit to Spain in 2015, this falls had a very healthy flow.

Penaladros_022_06132015 - Cascada de Peñaladros backed by impressive cliffs
Cascada de Peñaladros backed by impressive cliffs

As you can see in the photo above, the waterfall was surrounded by vegetation so I suspect this was one of the healthier drainages in the area.

In addition, what really stood out to us about this waterfall was the backdrop consisting of the mesa-like cliffs that we’d typically expect to find in the deserts of the American Southwest.

In any case, for all intents and purposes, Cascada de Penaladros was essentially a drive-to waterfall for us.

There didn’t seem to be safe access to get down to the river’s level and perhaps see the falls from its base.

Thus, I’d consider this to be one of those look-but-don’t-touch waterfalls.

Finding the Cascada de Peñaladros

Penaladros_030_06132015 - Looking back at the single-lane road leading to the Cascada de Peñaladros. In hindsight, that trail that appears to go left could very well be the scrambling path leading to the bottom of this waterfall!
Looking back at the single-lane road leading to the Cascada de Peñaladros. In hindsight, that trail that appears to go left could very well be the scrambling path leading to the bottom of this waterfall!

Even though Cascada de Penaladros was pretty much a drive-to waterfall, it turned out that the greater challenge was actually spotting it while driving a very narrow one-lane road with hardly any pullouts.

We actually overshot the falls before I turned back and only noticed it on the return.

Plus, I was nervous about the lack of pullouts on the single-lane road so if any car was going the opposite direction as us and we would encounter each other, I’m not sure what we would do.

Luckily, we didn’t face this situation, but I’m sure that potential would always be there for anyone wishing to visit the falls (see directions below for more details on this).

In fact, it seemed like this was one of the more obscure waterfalls we had visited throughout Spain.

Penaladros_017_06132015 - Looking down at the Cascada de Peñaladros while exploring along the single-lane road we took to get here
Looking down at the Cascada de Peñaladros while exploring along the single-lane road we took to get here

So this lack of notoriety further increased the chances of getting to experience the Cascada de Penaladros by ourselves.

Overcoming Waterfall Fatigue for the Cascada de Peñaladros

Finally, as it was getting late on the day of our visit, we nearly called it a day and skipped this waterfall.

After all, we were suffering from waterfall fatigue after having already visited Cascada de Orbaneja del Castillo, Cascada La Mea, and Cascada de Pedrosa de Tobalina all while we were making the long drive from Burgos to Bilbao.

However, when we noticed a sign pointing the way to this waterfall, that was when I made the executive decision to just go for it.

There was also a roadside waterfall that we had stopped for somewhere near the turnoff for the Cascada de Penaladros.

I believe this waterfall was called the Cascada de San Miguel, which was said to have a 200m height.

Penaladros_004_06132015 - Inadvertently spotting the Cascada de San Miguel as we were pursuing the Cascada de Peñaladros
Inadvertently spotting the Cascada de San Miguel as we were pursuing the Cascada de Peñaladros

So that further strengthened our resolve to overcome the waterfall fatigue.

Besides, we were aware of the driving distances and how much time it really took to get from place to place in the mountains.

As a result, we had to seize the moment and not take for granted that we’d have to drive long distances to go back this way.

Authorities

The Cascada de Penaladros Waterfall resides near the village of Cozuela in the province of Burgos, Spain. It doesn’t seem to be officially administered by a government entity. For information or inquiries about the area as well as current conditions, you may get leads from this website.

Maps and Routing Content are for annual subscribers. See Membership Options.
Content is for subscribers. See Membership Options.
Tagged with: valle de mena, castilla y leon, burgos, spain, waterfall, rio san miguel, table mountains, buttes



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Cascada de Peñaladros (Spain) January 16, 2020 6:58 pm by Jose Luis Sanchez Esteban - Picture 1: A closer look of this waterfall. Picture 2: A scenic view of this waterfall behind the springtime vegetation. ...Read More

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Johnny Cheng

About Johnny Cheng

Johnny Cheng is the founder of the World of Waterfalls and author of the award-winning A Guide to New Zealand Waterfalls. Over the last 2 decades, he has visited thousands of waterfalls in over 40 countries around the world and nearly 40 states in the USA.
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