Driving loop around the Bardena Blanca

This is the visit to do first. From the Los Aguilares information centre, about 7 km from Arguedas, a dirt track of some 25 km circles the Bardena Blanca, the most eroded and most photographed part of the park. Visit Navarra allows about two hours by car with stops.

What the route is like

The track skirts the outside of the firing range, which is fenced off in the centre and cannot be entered. Along the way you see the clay and gypsum landforms, the dry ravines and the white badlands, with the silhouette of Castildetierra near the start, beside the Cortinas ravine. There are signposted lay-bys for stopping; outside them you may not park or leave the track.

What car you need

An ordinary car, driven calmly. Visit Navarra advises against sports cars and very low cars. The maximum speed is 40 km/h and you may not drive in groups of five or more vehicles. After heavy rain the clay turns to mud: the park recommends not entering if it rains persistently.

When to go

First thing or last thing, with a low sun and less heat. The park opens at 8:00 and closes an hour before dusk; in winter, set out before 16:30. Inside there is no water, no bars and no petrol stations.

A filming landscape

Visit Navarra reminds visitors that the Bardenas have been the setting for adverts, series and films, among them Game of Thrones and the James Bond film The World Is Not Enough, and that you may recognise the Pisquerra from one of them. There is no marked filming spot and nothing set up for fans: what you recognise is the terrain, the landforms and the white plain surrounding this track. Respect the fencing of the firing range and check the notices on the park's website before setting out, as it publishes tracks closed by rain or storms and one-off closures.