See the section
Paca and Tola arrived at the Fernanchín enclosure on 26 May 1996 and were the face of the Senda for almost three decades. Today their 40,000 m² are home to Molina, and the viewpoint is still free.
Their story
The story of Paca and Tola begins in the summer of 1989 in the municipality of Tineo, where the two cubs were orphaned at just a few months old.
They were sisters from the same litter, Cantabrian brown bears, and at that age they had no chance of making it alone in the mountains. They were raised by hand, and that all-too-human upbringing sealed their fate: they could never be released back into the wild.
On 26 May 1996 they arrived at the Fernanchín enclosure, a 40,000 m² compound of wooded hillside between the municipalities of Proaza and Santo Adriano, right beside the greenway.
The timing was no accident: the first cyclable section between Tuñón and Proaza had opened in May 1995, and the arrival of the two bears cemented the trail's popular name for good. Without Paca and Tola, we probably would not be talking about the Senda del Oso today.
Each had her own character, and regular visitors learned to tell them apart. Paca was the calm one and the dominant one of the enclosure; Tola, more reserved, showed herself less from the viewpoint.
For more than two decades they were the first brown bear that several generations of Asturian kids ever saw in the flesh, with the Asturias Bear Foundation, established in 1992, in charge of their feeding and their health.
Tola died in January 2018, aged 28. Paca outlived her by seven years and passed away on 10 April 2025, at around 36: an extraordinary figure for a species that usually lives between 20 and 30 in the wild.
With her went the last protagonist of that era, but the enclosure did not stand empty: since 2013 it has been home to Molina, another female bear rescued as a cub who likewise cannot return to the mountains.
How and when to visit
We will tell you straight: Paca and Tola can no longer be seen. What you visit today is the same enclosure with its current tenant, Molina, the only bear in the compound, and it is worth it for the same reason as back then: watching a Cantabrian brown bear in semi-freedom from less than 100 metres away.
The viewpoint is outdoors, right beside the trail, and free; no booking is needed to look in. The chance of seeing Molina is around 70%, with two clearly better windows: 9 to 11 and 17 to 19, the cool hours when she moves about most.
At midday she usually sleeps and the waits drag on with no guarantee. Depending on which part of the enclosure she is roaming, she will be 30 to 100 metres away, so a pair of binoculars adds a lot.
The enclosure viewpoint is free and needs no booking. Arrive between 9 and 11 in the morning and you will have around a 70% chance of seeing Molina from less than 100 metres.
These are the most practical ways to get yourself to the viewpoint:
Buyera, on foot
The shortest access, along the trail itself.
- 0.8 flat kilometres
- 20 minutes
Proaza, circular on foot
Village, trail and enclosure in one morning.
- 5 km
- 1.5 hours
Tuñón, circular on foot
With the Peñas Juntas gorge thrown in.
- 10 km
- 3 hours
Entrago, by bike
The trail classic, on a gentle descent.
- 19 km
- 2-3 h with stops
Two rules worth knowing before you go. Dogs cannot approach the viewpoint: if you travel with yours, take turns while one of you waits on the trail, because the visit runs 15-20 minutes; the details are in the guide to doing the trail with a dog.
And the guided-visit times are managed by the Asturias Bear Foundation from the Bear House in Proaza, so do not take them for granted: they change by season and it pays to check the official information at turismoasturias.es.
A note on parking, because it shapes the visit: Buyera has about 15 informal spaces, Proaza about 20 and Tuñón about 40, all free, and in July, August and on long weekends they fill up before 10:00.
In high season, come early or look at alternatives in the parking guide. And if wild bears are your thing, that is a different plan: Somiedo, 45 km and 50 minutes away on the AS-265 and over the San Lorenzo pass.
The Proaza enclosure
The Fernanchín bear enclosure covers 40,000 m² of wooded hillside on the boundary between Proaza and Santo Adriano, level with km 19 of the trail counting from Entrago.
It sits between the Buyera recreation area (km 18, with picnic tables, a fountain and a seasonal bar) and Tuñón (km 22), so the shortest walk starts from Buyera: 800 flat metres, about 20 minutes.
Inside, Molina lives in semi-freedom: she makes the most of what the terrain provides and the Asturias Bear Foundation supplements her diet and handles veterinary monitoring.
The enclosure does not exist to exhibit animals, but because she, like Paca and Tola before her, would not survive on her own. That is why here the bear decides where she is at any given moment, and why she sometimes stays out of sight.
The surroundings round off the visit. Proaza is at km 14, with the village centre 200 metres from the trail and the Bear House as the foundation's headquarters; towards Tuñón, a 300-metre detour brings you to the pre-Romanesque church of Santo Adriano de Tuñón, from the year 891.
With those two stops, the circular walk from Proaza (5 km, an hour and a half) is our favourite plan for a morning.
If you come by bike, the classic fits well: rent in Entrago and ride the 18 km down to Buyera with about 200 metres of descent in your favour, in 2-3 hours with stops.
That said, if seeing Molina is your priority, set out early: pedalling from 9 o'clock you reach the viewpoint still within the morning's good window. Rates and options are on the bike rental page and the detail of the final stretch in the Tuñón-Proaza section guide.
Ruta del Oso