Andorra's nature parks, three protected areas and a biosphere reserve

More than 90% of Andorra is natural land, according to Andorra Turisme, but not all of it is protected in the same way. The country has three large areas with formal protection, each with its own character, plus an entire parish designated a Biosphere Reserve. Worth knowing before you search, because there are no national parks here, and the word park sends more than one visitor to Naturland by mistake.

How many nature parks does Andorra have?

Andorra Turisme lists three natural areas. The Madriu-Perafita-Claror valley, spread across four parishes; the Sorteny valley natural park in Ordino; and the Comapedrosa natural park in La Massana. Sorteny and the Comapedrosa are also part of the Three Nations Pyrenean Park, together with the Alt Pirineu park in Catalonia and the Ariège Pyrenees park in France.

Above all three sits the Ordino Biosphere Reserve. UNESCO designated the whole parish in 2020, and two years later it became part of UNESCO’s network of mountain reserves.

The Madriu, a whole valley under protection

It’s the largest and the best known. The Madriu valley covers 4,247 ha, close to 10% of the country, spread over four parishes with the capital among them, and has held UNESCO World Heritage status since 2004 as a cultural landscape. Around it lies a buffer zone of 4,092 ha. Its official site makes a point I find the most compelling of all, that protecting an entire valley is a one-off in the Pyrenees.

Almost all of it, 99%, is communal land. Inside are more than thirty lakes, 70% of the country’s catalogued animal species and the traces of over seven centuries of shepherds and ironworkers. There’s no road, and you walk in from Escaldes. The visitor centre moved in October 2025 to the Borda Gabriel in Escaldes-Engordany.

Sorteny, the park of wild flowers

The Sorteny valley in Ordino covers more than 1,000 ha and is, according to Andorra Turisme, the smallest of the three, but its biodiversity is remarkable. The parks page speaks of more than 700 species of flowers and plants, Ordino council of more than 800. Its botanical garden, around 800 m², holds close to 300 species, and its wildlife includes chamois, the Pyrenean newt and the common frog.

It’s the easiest with children. There’s an information hut at the car park, open in summer and winter, a staffed hut about 30 minutes’ walk away and a bus from El Serrat for €0.20 a head, handy in July and August when the car park is pay and display.

The Comapedrosa, the roof of the country

The Comapedrosa park in La Massana protects 15.42 km² around Andorra’s highest summit, the Pic del Comapedrosa at 2,942 m. It has three huts, one of them staffed with meals in summer, a 1.2 km interpretive trail and an interpretation centre in Arinsal with exhibitions and films. Andorra Turisme mentions golden eagles, bearded vultures and Aurelio’s rock lizard among its residents, and alpine flowers such as the alpine violet.

It’s also the heart of Andorra Comapedrosa Starlight, certified as a Starlight reserve and destination; the places to look up are the Roca de la Sabina and the Coll de la Botella. In June, Arinsal also hosts an astronomy festival.

Rules worth knowing

These are working landscapes, with livestock, hunting and private land in places. In the Madriu, for example, you need the parish council’s permission to pitch a tent, and on Sant Julià’s land you can’t camp at all, and from September to February, during the hunting season, its website asks walkers to keep to the tracks and dress to be seen. For high routes in all three parks, Andorra Turisme recommends high summer, from late June to late September.

Which to visit if you only have a day?

That depends on your priorities. For history and a walk without the car, the Madriu, whose main entrance is in Escaldes. For children or plants, Sorteny. For a summit, the Comapedrosa, bearing in mind the climb from Arinsal takes around 8 hours.

All three are free to enter. What you might pay for is the Sorteny car park in summer. You can’t drive into the Madriu, since its official site bans vehicles inside the valley, and the one forestry track, climbing from Sant Julià to Claror, stops outside the protected area; the tourist board lists it as paid access. And if what you were really after was a park with zip lines and a 5.3 km toboggan run, that’s Naturland, a leisure park in the mountains rather than a nature park.