Río Lobos Canyon Park House, in Ucero

The Río Lobos Canyon Park House (Casa del Parque) is in Ucero, on the SO-920, km 16, between El Burgo de Osma and San Leonardo de Yagüe. It is the logical first stop before going down into the canyon: here they give you the maps of the trails, tell you how the river is and whether the hermitage is open, and in three quarters of an hour you understand what you are going to see. Neither the Junta nor the Fundación Patrimonio Natural publishes an entry price.

The building

It occupies a three-storey stone building of more than 1,200 m² beside the river Ucero, which was formerly a paper or chocolate factory, a fulling mill and a flour mill. The ground floor has the reception, the green shop, a visitor's corner and an area with aquariums and the River Classroom (Aula del Río). On the first floor is the wildlife room, with stuffed animals most of which arrived dead or donated over the last twenty years, and the Micoteca, one of the largest collections of wild mushrooms in Spain. There too are the Antonio Segura room, with herbaria and a library, which is consulted by appointment, the audiovisual room and a temporary exhibitions room.

The exhibition

The second floor holds the permanent exhibition, with a large scale model of the park that helps you place the hermitage, the car parks and the trails. It is divided into the riverbank, the cliffs and the moorland, the three environments you are going to cross, and has a section on Castilla y León's network of natural areas. The audiovisual Los reyes de la noche (Kings of the Night) closes the visit. With children, the model, the aquariums and the wildlife room are the most eye-catching.

Outside

There is parking with an accessible space and an electric charging point, toilets and vending machines. Outside, a pond and a naturalised channel serve for practical fishing and for showing how an aquatic ecosystem works; the Rincón del Ucero River Classroom, in the same building, is a reference centre for fishing. Two waymarked trails start from the door: the one to Ucero castle and the one to the Gullurías.

Hours

The hours change every month. In November it opens Wednesday and Thursday from 10:00 to 14:00, Friday and Sunday from 10:00 to 17:00 and Saturday from 10:00 to 19:00; from 1 to 8 December, every day from 10:00 to 17:00; from 1 July to 27 September, every day from 10:00 to 19:00. Outside summer it closes on Monday and Tuesday; on long weekends and at Easter it extends its hours. Phone: 975 363 564; groups arrange the visit on 975 363 507. Email: [email protected].

The track that goes down towards the San Bartolomé hermitage leaves the same SO-920, a little to the north, beside the Fuente Engómez area.