Natural Park of Cabárceno

Geological landscape

The spectacular geological landscape of the Karst of Cabárceno, nearly lunar, situated in the western sector of the massif of Peña Cabarga, was transformed in 1989 to create a vast zoological park. In recent years this has been turned into one of the most attractive turistic places in Cantabria.

The Wildlife park of Cabárceno is part of a wider protected place: The Natural Park of Peña Cabarga. In it, the Park of Cabárceno can be thouroughly visited with great comfort, as it has 17kms of asphalted roads which make it easy to drive through. And there are also some alternative routes that can only be covered on foot or by bicycle.

The park, like all the massif of Peña Cabarga is formed by limestone rocks which have gone through complex processes of karstic solution and which today give it a truly original and interesting appearance from a geomrphological point of view.

Elephants

Inside the vast precint of the park there is a complex and varied representation of the fauna, and in it of course some of the indigenous animals of Cantabria: bears, wolves, red deer, roe deer, chamois and wild boars. But the exotic wildlife is without a doubt the protagonist.

Inside the park one can see elephants, hippoptomi, tigers, lions, zebras, kangaroos, ostriches, hyenas, giraffes, camels, dromedaries, llamas, antelopes, rhinocerous, monkeys..

Natural surroundings

The main characteristic of Cabárceno, as compared to other zoos, is the vast amount of space that the animals have, which allows development and contemplation in very natural surroundings. There are also several lakes where Trout fishing can be practised. To complement the facilities there is a reptile house with a wide variety of snakes.

Finally, we should also mention some other facilities in the park: Panoramic views, walking areas, children's park, parking and souvenir shops.