Aigüestortes and St. Maurici Lake National Park, established in 1955, is situated in the Pyrenees of north-west Catalonia, encompassing 141 km² of diverse landscapes including nearly 200 lakes, rivers, and glacial valleys. The park is home to a wide variety of plant and animal species, including protected birds like ospreys and mammals such as deer and marmots. Popular visitor trails showcase the park's natural beauty, featuring significant landmarks like the Morrano Bridge and Holy Spirit viewpoint.

2. It belongs to the
towns of Espot
and Boí.
Aigüestortes and St Maurici
National park Map
This national park is located in the
counties of Pallars Sobirà and Alta
Ribagorça, in North-West Catalonia.

3. Landscape
Aigüestortes and St Maurici lake National
Park is a wild region in the Pyrenees
mountain range, with peaks up to 3017m. It
has nearly 200 lakes. It comprises an area of
141km2. The park was created in 1955.

4. Saint Maurici lake
One of Aigüestortes and St Maurici Lake features is
the water, which can be found in all its forms: rivers,
waterfalls, lakes and glacial valleys. It has almost 200
mountain lakes. The most famous lake is St. Maurice
lake, located at the foot of the mountain called the
Enchantments. This mountain is made up of
limestone. St Maurice lake shows the silhouette of
two hunters which were cursed when they went
hunting Spanish chamois.

5. Birds
Almost 200 species of
vertebrates live in the park
and lots of them are birds.
Since 1988 some birds
species have been protected,
for example, the ospreys,
grouses, ptarmigans,
partridges and the red-billed
chough.
Partridge
Ptarmigan
Red-billed chough
OspreyGrouse

6. Mammals
The park mammals include ermines, marmots, deers and chamois.
Sometimes there are brown bears in the adjacent valley.
The ermine is a small and
white carnivore.
Marmots are mammals from the
Sciurid family. They are rodents
of medium size, a bit larger than
a cat, with short legs and a
chubby look. They normally live
in the mountains in the northern
hemisphere.
The deer is a ruminant
mammal from the Cervidae
the family. They have hooves
in their limbs.
The chamois is a bovine
mammal, a type of wild
goat.

7. Vegetation
There are around 1471 plant species in the park.
They are shady forests, so not many plants grow there.
However, former meandrous and pasturelands are now
occupied with grasslands and shrubs, dominated by
common boxwood bushes (buxus sempervirens) or
pines (pinus sylvestris).
Oak tree
Ash tree
Beech tree Hazel tree
In the lower parts and valleys, below 1.500 metres, we
can find typical European deciduous forests with
young oak trees (quercus humilis), ash trees (European
fraxinus excelsior), beech trees (Fraxinus sylvatica) or
the common hazel tree (corylus).
PineBoxwood bush

8. Vegetation
There are black pines above 1.500 metres. In
moist and shady areas there are also spruce
forests and rowans.
Above 2,000 metres there are pastures and
mountain flora such as the alpine or snowy
gentian.
Black pine
Spruce tree
Rowan tree
Alpine gentian
Snowy gentian

9. Visit Aigüestortes and
St Maurici lake National Park
The Chamois road is a trail that runs through pastures and forests to the lowest
part of the National Park; walking along the Chamois road we can also see some
of the livestock in the valley and traditional local farms.
Visitors can walk the Aigüestortes circuit so they will have the chance to enjoy:
• The raft of trouts: there are trouts living in the rivers and canyons. They can
be very big and their body is usually covered reddish spots.
• Morrano Bridge: it’s the longest wooden bridge in Aigüestortes, it’s over 400
metres in length. A walk from there we might discover the attractive world of
ants, black woodpeckers working or small insectivorous plants.
• Holy Spirit viewpoint: it’s located on a rock that has been polished by a
glacier for several thousands years. From there you can admire the valley
with pine forests, meadows and rocks.