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Cueva de El Pendo

Spain Spain Cave with prehistoric art World Heritage

Cueva de El Pendo

15 °C inside, all year.

No public accessPrehistoric art

See the descentHow to visit

Codigowiki · CC BY-SA 3.0 es

The descent

The entrance, at 85 m.

The real relief above Cueva de El Pendo, measured on the Copernicus model every 30 m, and the cave going down at the same vertical scale.

depth not publishedEntrance268 m1.0 kmvertical × 9.4depth not publishedEntrance268 m1.0 kmvertical × 20.4

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.

85m

Entrance altitude

from the 30 m relief model

15°C

Inside, all year

the yearly average outside, at the entrance

197m

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, 9 °C warmer than inside: take a jacket.

outside, at the entrance (85 m)inside
  1. 12°8°Jan
  2. 12°8°Feb
  3. 14°9°Mar
  4. 15°11°Apr
  5. 18°13°May
  6. 21°16°Jun
  7. 23°18°Jul
  8. 24°19°Aug
  9. 22°17°Sep
  10. 20°15°Oct
  11. 15°11°Nov
  12. 13°9°Dec
Inside: 15 °C all yearWettest: Nov–Jan

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

Cueva de El Pendo is a cave with prehistoric art in Spain. The entrance is at 85 m. It is closed to the public to protect it. It is part of a UNESCO World Heritage site.

Getting there.

  • No public accessProtected for science or for its art. Look for a replica or a visitor centre nearby.
  • Camargonearest town · 3.1 km in a straight line
  • Viewpointsnearest viewpoint · 2.4 km from the entrance
  • Seve Ballesteros-Santander Airport (SDR)nearest airport with scheduled flights · 9 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.

The ground above Cueva de El Pendo (Sentinel-2) 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.

  • 44other cave entrances within 3 kmCueva del Pendo, Cueva de Peñajorao XXII, Los Covachos and 41 more
  • 3viewpoints within 3 kmMirador de la Cotera
  • 3marked hiking routes within 3 kmCamino del Norte (Cantabria)
  • 8car parks within 2 km
  • 1information boards and visitor centres within 3 km
  • 10bus stops within 2 km
  • 2campsites within 8 kmÁrea de autocaravanas de Cabárceno, Aparcamiento para autocaravanas
  • 54hotels and guesthouses within 8 kmHotel Bedoya, San Luis, Hotel Las Anclas and 51 more
  • 8restaurants and cafés within 3 km
  • springs within 2 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

  • Camargo3.1 km in a straight line
  • Arce3.4 km in a straight line
  • Renedo5.0 km in a straight line
  • Vioño5.3 km in a straight line
  • Boo5.5 km in a straight line
  • Santa Cruz de Bezana6.2 km in a straight line
  • El Astillero7.5 km in a straight line
  • Liencres8.1 km in a straight line

In our other atlases

What else is around Cueva de El Pendo.

The river at the entrance, the waterfalls, the lakes, the mountains and volcanoes above, the canyons, beaches and islands nearby — from our other atlases.

Peakyas2 mountains within 10 km
La Picota238 m · 6.3 kmUrro Mayor · 8.9 km

Figures 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.

JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
Afternoon121214151821232422201513
Afternoon121214151821232422201513
Night88911131618191715119
Rain (mm)12510095786254343451100141121
Rainy days151312141298810141614
Sun hours/day2.43.65.16.27.27.57.87.46.74.72.82.6
Snow on the ground (cm)342000000012
AfternoonAfternoonNightRain (mm)Sun hours/day
Jan121281252.4
Feb121281003.6
Mar14149955.1
Apr151511786.2
May181813627.2
Jun212116547.5
Jul232318347.8
Aug242419347.4
Sep222217516.7
Oct2020151004.7
Nov1515111412.8
Dec131391212.6

Averages 1991–2020 (NASA POWER) for a cell about 55 km wide, brought to the altitude of the entrance (85 m) with the standard lapse rate. Not a forecast.

Photographs

Inside and around.

Cueva del Pendo
Codigowiki · CC BY-SA 3.0 es
EL PENDO low
Sautuola1880 · CC BY-SA 4.0
Grabado sobre hueso (51391194294)
Ángel M. Felicísimo from Mérida, España · CC BY 2.0

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.

JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
202037%27%145%141%119%136%56%179%211%241%28%312%
2021176%113%36%68%94%229%119%89%159%66%215%195%
202263%33%122%111%34%94%23%116%227%35%111%96%
2023219%74%35%42%87%144%81%115%204%105%128%92%
2024103%160%122%53%152%111%68%212%268%203%70%100%
202570%70%142%96%95%75%142%188%153%33%131%105%

130% or more: wet month 70% or less: dry month

Caves nearby.

Cueva de El Pendo

Spain

  • —Depth
  • —Galleries
  • 85 mEntrance altitude
  • 15 °CInside, all year

Cave of Altamira

Spain · 17 km

  • —Depth
  • —Galleries
  • 95 mEntrance altitude
  • 15 °CInside, all year

See the guide

Cave of El Castillo

Spain · 11 km

  • —Depth
  • —Galleries
  • 201 mEntrance altitude
  • 14 °CInside, all year

See the guide

Cueva de La Pasiega

Spain · 12 km

  • —Depth
  • —Galleries
  • 184 mEntrance altitude
  • 14 °CInside, all year

See the guide

Where these figures come from

Name, type, published depth and length, visitorsWikidata (Q798018) · CC0
The relief above, the entrance altitude, the section and the 3D modelCopernicus DEM GLO-30 · © DLR e.V., © Airbus Defence and Space GmbH, Copernicus/ESA
ClimateNASA POWER, 1991–2020
Entrances, springs, sinkholes, opening hours and what is around© OpenStreetMap contributors · ODbL
ImagesEOX Sentinel-2 cloudless 2016 · CC BY 4.0; Wikimedia Commons
Rivers, waterfalls, lakes, mountains, canyons, beaches and islands nearbyCoastya, 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?

Same idea, other landscapes: field atlases built on open data, month by month, in seven languages.

beachesCoastyaFind your beach: sea temperature, sun and swimming month by month.Visit lakesLakeyasEvery lake on Earth: water temperature, ice, depth and the shore.Visit mountainsPeakyasEvery summit in 3D: summit weather, the 0 °C line, huts and trails.Visit waterfallsCascadyasEvery waterfall: height, flow month by month and when it roars.Visit islandsIslandyasEvery island from the sea up: size, sea temperature, ferries and 3D.Visit riversRiveryasEvery river from source to sea: the journey, the flow and the basin in numbers.Visit canyonsCanyonyasEvery canyon cut to scale: depth to the floor, rim and floor temperatures, trails and viewpoints.Visit
cavesCavernyasEvery cave with its real depth and length: the rock above, the temperature inside all year, and how to visit.You are here
dark skiesDarkskyasWhere the night is still dark: the sky of every place, the Milky Way month by month, the Moon, eclipses and auroras.Coming soonVisit
viewpointsViewyasEvery viewpoint with its real 360° panorama: the peaks you can name, how far you see and where the sun sets.Coming soonVisit
birdwatchingBirdyasEvery bird sanctuary and wetland with the species recorded month by month: who is resident, who comes for the summer, who only passes through.Coming soonVisit
forestsForestyaEvery forest with its land-cover rings, what grows and lives in it, and the best months to walk it.Coming soonVisit