A trip with my dog to Bardenas Reales (Navarra, Spain)

This May, I took a trip with my dog to Navarra, Spain to visit the Bardenas Reales national park. It is a vast area semi desert terrain with impressive naturally shaped dunes and canyons.

If you like the TV show Game of Thrones, you might be interested to know that part of the show was filmed at Bardenas Reales. There is no fee to enter the park, but you do need to leave one hour before sunset, so keep that in mind when planning your visit.

If you are looking to spend a night or two near the Bardenas Reales, I can recommend the hotel that I stayed at. If you’re interested you can find more information on where to stay in Castejón with your dog here.

HOW TO VISIT BARDENAS REALES WITH YOUR DOG

In order to get to Bardenas Reales with your dog, I would recommend a car. As far as I am aware, there are no public transport links. There are a number of roads through the national park that you can take by car.

I would recommend starting your visit at the tourist information center, where you can get a map as well as some pointers on how to move around the park. There are also restrooms at the tourist information.

We decided to follow the circular loop from the tourist center, a lap of around 34km by car that allows you to see different terrain, including the most famous rock formation called Cabezo de Castildetierra.

At this point, you will also find a short walking trail that you and your pup can explore on foot.

Dogs are welcome in the Bardenas Reales, but as it is a national park, please remember to keep your furry companions leashed at all times.

Along the loop, you will see different terrain. While there are no official parking lots, you are allowed to stop on the side of the road for pictures while using your common sense.

I found it nice that you can stop where you like and explore at your leisure. This way, you can appreciate the natural formations from up close. However, part of the park is a military zone, so please be mindful of the signs and respect the areas that are off limits.

Please be aware that you will be driving on dirt roads for most of the loop, so do consider whether you want to do that to your car before deciding to visit.

If you are interested to see more of the Bardenas beyond the car loop, you can also head the Peña del Fraile parking lot. Another walking route through a different part of the Bardenas starts from there. We did not have time to see this before sunset, but it was recommended to us by the tourist information center, so if you have time, do consider to check it out!

HOW LONG IT TAKES AND WHO IT’S FOR

You can spend as little or as much time as you want in the Bardenas. If you plan on doing the circular loop by car, I would suggest allowing at least two hours in order to have enough time to stop for pictures along the way. If you also want to do Peña del Fraile, I think you would need to budget pretty much the whole day to do both.

If you are doing the circular loop by car, this trip is really possible for everyone. If you don’t want to, you don’t even need to exit the car. However, your pup will probably thank you if you let them out during photo stops so that they can explore the park as well.

I have to admit that for me, spending most of the trip in the car was a downside. I prefer to get to know places by walking, but this is really not the best place for that. If you are considering a visit to Bardenas Reales with your pup, I would suggest that you investigate the Peña del Fraile route instead, as this may be more fun for you to do together with your four legged friend.

THE BOTTOM LINE

To me, a visit to Bardenas Reales is not exactly a must-do with your dog. It’s nice that the park is free of charge and that you can see different landscapes from the car, but there are certainly trips to take with your dog that they will benefit more from.

This trip is likely to have your pup in the car most of the time, and I did not find the park impressive enough to make a visit worth it. If you are in the area and have some time to kill, why not. But I would not go out of my way to come here with my dog.