Wildlife and Nature in the Pyrenees
Due to its particular East-West orientation resulting in a cooler and wetter northern flank in the French Pyrenees and a warmer and more arid southern face in Spain, as a whole the Pyrenees offers an incredible diversity of ecosystems. The geological processes creating the Pyrenees resulted in widely differing formations on either side of the range.
The happy result is that there is a huge range of possibilities for experiencing up close many aspects of the natural world of these magnificent mountains. Of particular interest to our visitors are flora, fauna and geology.
Experiences focusing on the natural environment in the Pyrenees
We'll create an itinerary focusing on the highlights of a specific area and/or your particular interests that is personally adapted to suit your available dates and preferences in terms of difficulty, type of accommodations etc.
We can also combine these excursions with other hikes in nearby spectacular mountain terrain to make a unique and interesting trip of a lifetime.
Put yourselves in the hands of our expert specialist nature guides, who’ve been leading excursions into the wilds of the mountains for years. We work with the finest and most knowledgeable professionals in each field, who know the Pyrenees inside and out, forwards and backwards.
Flora
The Pyrenees is a world-class destination for "flower-hiking". In the Pyrenees as a whole, there are approximately 4500 species of flora, including 160 endemics and 70 species of orchids! Alpine flora, those growing at elevation are especially delicate and beautiful. Botanists have documented an incredible 632 species growing above 2300 meters elevation, flowering from mid-July until the end of August when the snows have melted. At lower elevations, a greater number of lovely flowers can be seen from April onwards. The Pyrenees is home to numerous examples of endemic and unusual flora
By way of testimony to the richness of this environment for flowers, Japanese mountaineer Junko Tabei, the 1st women to scale Mt. Everest and complete the 7 Summits wrote that she had never seen such variety of beautiful alpine flowers as she saw in Spain's Ordesa National Park.
Fauna
The Pyrenees is a world-class destination for birding in general, but in particular for observing raptors - or birds of prey. It's practically impossible to go on a hike and not see several species. Depending on where we go, typical examples of these spectacular birds one can see include the griffon vulture, Egyptian vulture, lammergaier (one of Europe's rarest raptors) golden eagle, red kite and peregrine falcon.
On excursions to the high mountains it is common to see the nimble chamoix (known as isard in the French Pyrenees or sarrio on the Spanish side of the range).
Geology
Thanks to the complex and powerful processes that took place over millions of years in the creation of the Pyrenees, these mountains are a geologist's dream, with an incredible variety of Impressive and characteristic geological and topographical features. The Sobrarbe UNESCO Geopark headquartered in Ainsa at the doorstep of Ordesa National Park is testament to the educational possibilities of the area.
Alpine Flora of the Pyrenees
The Pyrenees is a flower lover's paradise
Visit one of the world's top destinations for alpine flora. Flowers typically seen include many species of orchids, endemics like the Saxifraga Longifolia and Ramonda Myconi, as well as the famous Edelweiss (Leontopodium alpinum).
Ordesa National Park, Aigüestortes National Park and Posets-Maladeta Natural Park are all great flower destinations.
Geology of the Pyrenees
Ordesa y Monte Perdido National Park & Gavarnie Cirque
Ordesa National Park is part of a larger area designated by UNESCO as a World Natural Heritage site—an “outstanding mountain landscape”—spanning the contemporary national borders of France and Spain, centered around Monte Perdido – Europe’s highest limestone mountain, that rises to 3,352 m/10,997 ft. The site, with a total area of 30,639 ha, includes two of Europe's largest and deepest canyons and three major cirque walls.
Fauna of the Pyrenees
Walks to explore the wild side!
One of the most rewarding animals to observe is the nimble Sarrio (chamoix or isard), the lord of the higher rocky reaches of the range. It's truly amazing how they scamper about steep rock faces!
They typically live at elevation and normally we require a good hike to get up high to see them.
A great place to see them is Posets-Maladeta Natural Park in the Central Pyrenees