Puerto de Palombera, an absolute must for road lovers

Puerto de Palombera is a high mountain pass at an elevation of 1.260m (4,133ft) above the sea level, located in Cantabria, in northern Spain.

Puerto de Palombera

Set high in the Cantabrian Mountains, at the eastern end of the Sierra del Cordel range, within the Saja-Besaya Natural Park, the road to the summit is totally paved. It’s called CA-280. Access to the pass is typically open all year round, with the occasional closure in winters due to dangerous weather conditions.

The pass road is 33.8 km (21 miles) long, running south-north from Espinilla to Valle. The road is steep, hitting an 8.7% of maximum gradient through some of the ramps. Starting from Espinilla, the ascent is 6 km long. Over this distance, the elevation gain is 323 meters. The average percentage is 5.4 %.