Spain Show cave World Heritage
Cave of Chufín
15 °C inside, all year.
Josejaviervillalbacalles · CC BY-SA 4.0
The descent
The entrance, at 147 m.
The real relief above Cave of Chufín, 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.
147m
Entrance altitude
from the 30 m relief model
15°C
Inside, all year
the yearly average outside, at the entrance
337m
Rock above
the highest point within 1.5 km
Inside and outside
15 °C inside, all year.
Deep inside, a cave keeps the average temperature of the year outside: about 15 °C here, in January and in August. In August the afternoon reaches 24 °C at the entrance, 8 °C warmer than inside: take a jacket. The wettest months are from November to January: water rises fast underground, so never go in without a guide after heavy rain.
- 12°9°Jan
- 12°8°Feb
- 14°9°Mar
- 15°10°Apr
- 17°13°May
- 21°16°Jun
- 22°18°Jul
- 24°18°Aug
- 22°17°Sep
- 20°15°Oct
- 15°11°Nov
- 13°9°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.
Cave in Spain
Cave of Chufín is a show cave in Spain. The entrance is at 147 m. It has an underground river and stalactites and stalagmites. It is open to visitors. It is part of a UNESCO World Heritage site.
Getting there.
- Show cave: open to visitorsUsually with a guided tour; check times and tickets on the official site.
- San Vicente de la Barqueranearest town · 12 km in a straight line
- Parking 400 m awaynearest car park in OpenStreetMap, straight line
- La palomberanearest viewpoint · 0.4 km from the entrance
- Seve Ballesteros-Santander Airport (SDR)nearest airport with scheduled flights · 54 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.
The water
The Río Lamasón runs highest from November to March.
The Río Lamasón carries about 5.8 m³/s on average here. It runs highest from November to March. It is lowest from July to September.
- 9.9 m³/sJan
- 8.7 m³/sFeb
- 7.9 m³/sMar
- 6.5 m³/sApr
- 4.7 m³/sMay
- 3.2 m³/sJun
- 2.0 m³/sJul
- 1.6 m³/sAug
- 2.1 m³/sSep
- 5.0 m³/sOct
- 8.9 m³/sNov
- 9.7 m³/sDec
From about 1.6 m³/s in the lowest month to 9.9 m³/s in the highest. Its basin above this point covers 276 km².
The Nansa from source to mouth on Riveryas — coming soon
Estimate: long-term flow from the HydroATLAS model (WaterGAP, 1971–2000) shaped by the monthly rain, snow and temperature of the area (NASA POWER). Dams change it. Not a forecast.
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.
- 30other cave entrances within 3 kmCueva del Rio II, Cueva de San Rasco, Cueva del Rio I and 27 more
- 1springs within 2 km
- 2viewpoints within 3 kmLa palombera
- 1marked hiking routes within 3 kmCamino Lebaniego
- 10car parks within 2 km
- 4information boards and visitor centres within 3 km
- 6bus stops within 2 km
- 2campsites within 8 kmÁrea de autocaravanas del Valle del Nansa
- 17hotels and guesthouses within 8 kmCasa rural Asturias la tienda de Villanueva, Hostal Gogar, Albergue Los Pumares and 14 more
- 5restaurants and cafés within 3 km
- sinkholes within 3 km
- caving clubs and spots within 15 km
- climbing crags within 3 km
- named waterfalls within 4 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
- San Vicente de la Barquera12 km in a straight line
- Ruente16 km in a straight line
- Comillas17 km in a straight line
- Tresviso17 km in a straight line
- Cabezón de la Sal18 km in a straight line
- Cabezón de Liébana20 km in a straight line
- Potes20 km in a straight line
- Luzmela20 km in a straight line
In our other atlases
What else is around Cave of Chufín.
The river at the entrance, the waterfalls, the lakes, the mountains and volcanoes above, the canyons, beaches and islands nearby — from our other atlases.
Riveryas2 rivers at the entranceFigures 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 | 12 | 12 | 14 | 15 | 17 | 21 | 22 | 24 | 22 | 20 | 15 | 13 |
| Afternoon | 12 | 12 | 14 | 15 | 17 | 21 | 22 | 24 | 22 | 20 | 15 | 13 |
| Night | 9 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 13 | 16 | 18 | 18 | 17 | 15 | 11 | 9 |
| Rain (mm) | 123 | 102 | 94 | 77 | 62 | 53 | 34 | 37 | 50 | 100 | 137 | 118 |
| Rainy days | 16 | 12 | 12 | 14 | 12 | 9 | 8 | 8 | 10 | 14 | 17 | 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) | 5 | 7 | 4 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 4 |
| Afternoon | Afternoon | Night | Rain (mm) | Sun hours/day | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jan | 12 | 12 | 9 | 123 | 2.7 |
| Feb | 12 | 12 | 8 | 102 | 3.8 |
| Mar | 14 | 14 | 9 | 94 | 5.2 |
| Apr | 15 | 15 | 10 | 77 | 6.2 |
| May | 17 | 17 | 13 | 62 | 7.1 |
| Jun | 21 | 21 | 16 | 53 | 7.3 |
| Jul | 22 | 22 | 18 | 34 | 7.7 |
| Aug | 24 | 24 | 18 | 37 | 7.4 |
| Sep | 22 | 22 | 17 | 50 | 6.8 |
| Oct | 20 | 20 | 15 | 100 | 4.8 |
| Nov | 15 | 15 | 11 | 137 | 3.0 |
| Dec | 13 | 13 | 9 | 118 | 2.8 |
Averages 1991–2020 (NASA POWER) for a cell about 55 km wide, brought to the altitude of the entrance (147 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 | 40% | 29% | 135% | 143% | 98% | 136% | 55% | 188% | 218% | 266% | 34% | 341% |
| 2021 | 173% | 108% | 39% | 71% | 103% | 197% | 112% | 89% | 161% | 70% | 243% | 202% |
| 2022 | 71% | 35% | 128% | 137% | 36% | 105% | 32% | 117% | 238% | 41% | 119% | 106% |
| 2023 | 247% | 81% | 35% | 43% | 89% | 149% | 84% | 116% | 202% | 114% | 136% | 103% |
| 2024 | 114% | 156% | 139% | 52% | 159% | 102% | 70% | 118% | 286% | 188% | 75% | 108% |
| 2025 | 77% | 76% | 165% | 98% | 114% | 79% | 124% | 175% | 162% | 35% | 129% | 120% |
130% or more: wet month 70% or less: dry month
Caves nearby.
Cave of Chufín
Spain
- —Depth
- —Galleries
- 147 mEntrance altitude
- 15 °CInside, all year
Cave of Altamira
Spain · 29 km
- —Depth
- —Galleries
- 95 mEntrance altitude
- 15 °CInside, all year
Cave of El Soplao
Spain · 4 km
- —Depth
- —Galleries
- 531 mEntrance altitude
- 12 °CInside, all year
Cueva del Pindal
Spain · 13 km
- —Depth
- —Galleries
- 36 mEntrance altitude
- 16 °CInside, all year
Where these figures come from
| Name, type, published depth and length, visitors | Wikidata (Q5054949) · 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 |
| River flow and basin | HydroATLAS / RiverATLAS v1.0 (Linke et al. 2019) · CC BY 4.0 |
| 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
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