Spain JYB Devot · CC BY-SA 4.0
The descent
The entrance, at 1,926 m.
The real relief above Sistema del Trave, measured on the Copernicus model every 30 m, and the cave going down at the same vertical scale.
The depth is the one published by those who explored it; the shape of the galleries is a sketch, not a survey. No depth has been published for this cave yet.
1,926m
Entrance altitude
from the 30 m relief model
4°C
Inside, all year
the yearly average outside, at the entrance
384m
Rock above
the highest point within 1.5 km
Inside and outside
4 °C inside, all year.
Deep inside, a cave keeps the average temperature of the year outside: about 4 °C here, in January and in August. In July the afternoon reaches 17 °C at the entrance, 14 °C warmer than inside: take a jacket. The wettest months are from October to December: water rises fast underground, so never go in without a guide after heavy rain.
- 0°-6°Jan
- 1°-7°Feb
- 4°-5°Mar
- 7°-3°Apr
- 10°0°May
- 15°4°Jun
- 17°5°Jul
- 17°5°Aug
- 14°3°Sep
- 10°0°Oct
- 3°-3°Nov
- 1°-6°Dec
Outside: afternoon and night averages for 1991–2020 (NASA POWER) brought to the altitude of the entrance. Inside: the yearly average, which deep parts of a cave keep. Near the entrance it follows the weather a little.
Protected area in Spain
Sistema del Trave is a abyss in Spain. The entrance is at 1,926 m. It has several entrances and long galleries.
Getting there.
- Wild cave: only with caving equipmentNo paths or lights inside. Go only with a caving club or a qualified guide.
- Posada de Valdeónnearest town · 9.3 km in a straight line
- Mirador de Lallendenearest viewpoint · 3.1 km from the entrance
- Seve Ballesteros-Santander Airport (SDR)nearest airport with scheduled flights · 87 km in a straight lineCar hire at SDR airport (Santander)Discover Cars · sponsored link↗
Plan the visit
Guided tours, a bed nearby, a car.
Some links above are affiliate links: if you book through them we may earn a commission, at no extra cost to you. It never changes what the data on this page says.
From above.
The ground above the cave, with the relief shaded, the line of the section and what people have mapped around the entrance.
N
1.5 km
Sentinel-2 cloudless 2016 (EOX, CC BY 4.0), 6.0 × 6.0 km, north up. The line is the section above. Points © OpenStreetMap contributors.
Around the entrance.
- 6other cave entrances within 3 kmTorca T2, Torca T10, Cuanegra and 3 more
- 8springs within 2 kmFuente Fría, Fuente Cima, Fuente de Dobresengos and 5 more
- 40sinkholes within 3 kmJou Sin Tierre, Jou de los Cabrones, Jou Negro and 37 more
- 1viewpoints within 3 kmMirador de Lallende
- 13marked hiking routes within 3 kmVega de Urriellu, Jou de los Cabrones, Canal de Camburero and 10 more
- 1named waterfalls within 4 kmCascada de Sabugo
- 2information boards and visitor centres within 3 km
- 11campsites within 8 kmPosada de Valdeón, Emergency tent place, Emergency spot for 1 tent and 8 more
- 39hotels and guesthouses within 8 kmLa Ruta, Albergue El Diablo de la Peña, Albergue La Cuesta and 36 more
- 2restaurants and cafés within 3 km
- caving clubs and spots within 15 km
- climbing crags within 3 km
- car parks within 2 km
- bus stops within 2 km
Counted in OpenStreetMap, the map anyone can edit, around the entrance. A low number may just mean nobody has mapped it yet. © OpenStreetMap contributors (ODbL).
Towns nearby
- Posada de Valdeón9.3 km in a straight line
- Carreña11 km in a straight line
- Camaleño15 km in a straight line
- Tresviso16 km in a straight line
- Oseja de Sajambre17 km in a straight line
- Amieva18 km in a straight line
- Potes21 km in a straight line
- Posada23 km in a straight line
In our other atlases
What else is around Sistema del Trave.
The river at the entrance, the waterfalls, the lakes, the mountains and volcanoes above, the canyons, beaches and islands nearby — from our other atlases.
Peakyas15 mountains within 10 kmFigures from the sister sites' databases (Wikidata, HydroATLAS, GeoNames, NOAA, OpenStreetMap). Links open when each site is online.
Month by month
The weather outside, at the entrance.
| Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Afternoon | 0 | 1 | 4 | 7 | 10 | 15 | 17 | 17 | 14 | 10 | 3 | 1 |
| Afternoon | 0 | 1 | 4 | 7 | 10 | 15 | 17 | 17 | 14 | 10 | 3 | 1 |
| Night | -6 | -7 | -5 | -3 | 0 | 4 | 5 | 5 | 3 | 0 | -3 | -6 |
| Rain (mm) | 81 | 69 | 68 | 66 | 59 | 45 | 29 | 33 | 43 | 84 | 99 | 85 |
| Rainy days | 14 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 12 | 9 | 6 | 7 | 9 | 13 | 16 | 14 |
| Sun hours/day | 2.7 | 3.8 | 5.2 | 6.2 | 7.1 | 7.3 | 7.7 | 7.4 | 6.8 | 4.8 | 3.0 | 2.8 |
| Snow on the ground (cm) | 12 | 12 | 9 | 4 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 6 | 11 |
| Afternoon | Afternoon | Night | Rain (mm) | Sun hours/day | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jan | 0 | 0 | -6 | 81 | 2.7 |
| Feb | 1 | 1 | -7 | 69 | 3.8 |
| Mar | 4 | 4 | -5 | 68 | 5.2 |
| Apr | 7 | 7 | -3 | 66 | 6.2 |
| May | 10 | 10 | 0 | 59 | 7.1 |
| Jun | 15 | 15 | 4 | 45 | 7.3 |
| Jul | 17 | 17 | 5 | 29 | 7.7 |
| Aug | 17 | 17 | 5 | 33 | 7.4 |
| Sep | 14 | 14 | 3 | 43 | 6.8 |
| Oct | 10 | 10 | 0 | 84 | 4.8 |
| Nov | 3 | 3 | -3 | 99 | 3.0 |
| Dec | 1 | 1 | -6 | 85 | 2.8 |
Averages 1991–2020 (NASA POWER) for a cell about 55 km wide, brought to the altitude of the entrance (1,926 m) with the standard lapse rate. Not a forecast.
Photographs
Inside and around.
Recent years
Wet years, dry years.
Rain of each month as a share of the 1991–2020 average. A dry year means a lower river and hotter rock; a wet one, more water in the gorge.
| Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2020 | 47% | 31% | 119% | 131% | 99% | 126% | 54% | 205% | 181% | 282% | 39% | 305% |
| 2021 | 166% | 127% | 34% | 70% | 78% | 211% | 96% | 55% | 156% | 59% | 175% | 165% |
| 2022 | 51% | 37% | 128% | 112% | 45% | 106% | 44% | 110% | 176% | 55% | 100% | 129% |
| 2023 | 215% | 66% | 31% | 37% | 74% | 154% | 44% | 105% | 203% | 131% | 127% | 75% |
| 2024 | 106% | 137% | 139% | 67% | 117% | 142% | 82% | 122% | 247% | 171% | 61% | 87% |
| 2025 | 103% | 90% | 249% | 93% | 130% | 72% | 92% | 166% | 142% | 41% | 132% | 117% |
130% or more: wet month 70% or less: dry month
Caves nearby.
Sistema del Trave
Spain
- —Depth
- —Galleries
- 1,926 mEntrance altitude
- 4 °CInside, all year
Santa Cueva de Covadonga
Spain · 19 km
- —Depth
- —Galleries
- 251 mEntrance altitude
- 14 °CInside, all year
Cave of Altamira
Spain · 62 km
- —Depth
- —Galleries
- 95 mEntrance altitude
- 15 °CInside, all year
Cueva de La Covaciella
Spain · 11 km
- —Depth
- —Galleries
- 292 mEntrance altitude
- 14 °CInside, all year
Where these figures come from
| Name, type, published depth and length, visitors | Wikidata (Q9078011) · CC0 |
|---|---|
| The relief above, the entrance altitude, the section and the 3D model | Copernicus DEM GLO-30 · © DLR e.V., © Airbus Defence and Space GmbH, Copernicus/ESA |
| Climate | NASA POWER, 1991–2020 |
| Entrances, springs, sinkholes, opening hours and what is around | © OpenStreetMap contributors · ODbL |
| Images | EOX Sentinel-2 cloudless 2016 · CC BY 4.0; Wikimedia Commons |
| Rivers, waterfalls, lakes, mountains, canyons, beaches and islands nearby | Coastya, Lakeyas, Peakyas, Cascadyas, Islandyas, Riveryas |
Every figure is an average, an estimate or a count from a public dataset. Licences and methods: data sources.
The family
Do you prefer beaches, lakes, mountains, waterfalls, islands, rivers, canyons, caves, dark skies, viewpoints, birdwatching or forests?
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