Walk Down Through the Áliva Pastures

It is the way to return from the Fuente Dé cable car without taking the cabin down: you go up to El Cable, at 1,823 metres, and come back on foot through the Áliva meadows, between the central and eastern massifs of the Picos de Europa. It is 14.5 km and 974 metres of descent, all downhill, in about four and a quarter hours. The cable car's own listing rates it low difficulty: almost all of it is a wide track.

Note for November 2026: the cable car closes for improvement works from Monday 16 November, for a few weeks. Without the cabin there is no comfortable way of starting at the top; Cantur will announce the reopening on its website.

One-way ticket up

If you are going to walk down, buy a single journey. In 2026 an adult pays €13 in low season and €17 in high; children aged 4 to 12, €6 and €8, and under-4s do not pay. High season runs from 1 July to 30 September, plus Easter, national public holidays and long weekends. A dog goes up only in a closed carrier, which you bring yourself, for €6 each way.

In autumn and winter, until the end of the year, the cabin runs Monday to Friday from 10:00 to 17:00 and at weekends from 9:00. The last ride up is half an hour before closing. With a good four hours of descent ahead, go up as early as possible: in November it gets dark early.

From the Horcadina de Covarrobles to the portillas

From the upper station there is a short climb to the Horcadina de Covarrobles, the pass from which Áliva opens out. From there on it is all downhill on a track, among the high pastures of the puertos. You pass near the Áliva hotel refuge and continue to the portillas, where a cattle grid cuts the track.

The Valdecoro wood and the new stretch

Past the portillas, the route leaves the track and enters by a path into the woodland on the south slope of Valdecoro peak, which ends in a wide, easy track to Fuente Dé. This final stretch was opened recently as an alternative to the old descent via Espinama, which used to be the most used and left you far from your car: from Espinama you have to climb 2.5 km along the road to the cable car car park.

Two hours with children: to the refuge and back

If you are with children or short of time, the cable car proposes a short version: walk from El Cable to the Áliva hotel refuge and return the same way, a little under two hours in all, and come down in the cabin. Then the return ticket is the one you want, €20 in low season and €30 in high for an adult.

Fog, snow and dogs

Fog can come in on any day of the year, August too: do not leave the marked path. Mountain boots and enough water, because the official listing gives no springs along the route, and a warm layer for the top. With snow, this route stops being a stroll; in winter, in Liébana there is guided snowshoeing. The whole route is inside the Picos de Europa National Park: dogs must always be on a lead.