Senda Verde Val·le de Turón

The Senda Verde del Val.le de Turón (Turón Valley Green Way) runs through one of the most symbolic mining landscapes in Mieres, transforming old industrial footprints into a friendly path between nature, memory, and heritage. A linear, simple, and very complete route to understand the soul of the valley.

The Senda Verde Val.le de Turón is one of the most representative routes in the Mieres council and one of the best examples of landscape recovery of old mining sites in Asturias. Its layout allows you to travel through the valley following a comfortable, accessible itinerary full of historical references, where current nature coexists with headframes, mine mouths, mining facilities, workers’ neighborhoods, and paths that speak of the daily life of entire generations.

The route corresponds to the Senda Verde de Turón P.R. AS-100.1, with an approximate distance of 15 kilometers and an estimated duration of 4 hours and 30 minutes. Its path starts in Figareo and ends in La Molinera, making it a linear route. The profile is smooth and progressive, with an approximate positive elevation gain of 340 meters and a low difficulty, making it a suitable option for casual hikers, families accustomed to walking, and visitors interested in discovering the industrial heritage of Mieres without facing a technical route.

From the start in Figareo, the path enters the Turón valley following a natural and historical axis that for decades was deeply marked by coal mining. The current landscape, green and quiet, contrasts with the intense industrial activity that characterized the area during much of the 20th century. That duality is one of the great attractions of the route: walking today through a recovered environment while perceiving, at every step, the memory of a valley built around the mines.

The path advances through wooded areas, stretches of greenway, open areas, and small inhabited centers. The path allows you to enjoy a comfortable route, with a good surface for much of the layout and no technical difficulty. Even so, its length invites you to take it easy, organize your time well, and enjoy the stops. It is not a route of great peaks, but an itinerary of interpretation of the territory, where each section helps to understand the relationship between landscape, work, community, and memory.

One of the most outstanding elements of the Senda Verde del Val.le de Turón is the presence of mining heritage. Throughout the route, there are references to pits, facilities, machinery, and spaces linked to coal extraction. Among these elements, enclaves such as the Pozu Espinos and the Pozu Fortuna stand out, which are part of the industrial memory of the valley and add strong historical and emotional value to the route. These places recall the hardness of mining work and the importance that the activity had in the social and economic configuration of Turón.

The route does not only allow observing isolated industrial elements, but understanding a complete landscape. The neighborhoods, local roads, paths, old mining areas, and the structure of the valley are part of the same reading. In Turón, mining was not an element added to the landscape, but the axis around which ways of life, social relations, and a very marked collective identity were organized. Walking along the path is, in a way, retracing that history from a calm and respectful perspective.

As you move up the valley, the environment becomes increasingly natural. Vegetation gains presence, wooded stretches provide shade and coolness, and the landscape opens towards the hillsides that surround the valley. This progression from more inhabited areas to greener spaces gives variety to the route and makes the path very pleasant. The environmental recovery of old industrial spaces is clearly perceived, showing how a territory linked to coal can be transformed into a green corridor for walking, hiking, and heritage interpretation.

The linear nature of the route allows it to be organized in different ways. It can be covered in its entirety, from Figareo to La Molinera, or carried out in sections depending on the time available and the profile of the walkers. This flexibility is one of its great advantages, as it allows you to approach the Turón valley gradually, adapting the experience to families, groups, hikers, or visitors interested mainly in mining heritage.

During the tour, the views of the valley, the passages next to industrial elements, and the tranquility of the environment make the path a very balanced experience. It does not require high physical effort, but it does offer great interpretive richness. It is a route to walk slowly, stop at the panels, observe the mining structures, imagine the old movement of the valley, and enjoy the current silence of a space that for decades was full of activity.

The Senda Verde Val.le de Turón is ideal for those who want to know Mieres from one of its deepest identities: mining. Its appeal lies in the combination of accessibility, green landscape, and workers’ memory. It is a simple route, but with a lot of content, perfect for discovering how the territory has been transformed without losing its essential traces. An itinerary that allows you to understand the industrial past of the valley and, at the same time, enjoy a present that is friendlier, more natural, and open to the visitor.