Armañon Natural Park

Armañón Natural Park stretches across the municipalities of Karrantza and Turtzioz, in the Encartaciones comarca of southwestern Bizkaia. Its territory also forms part of the Ordunte Mountains Special Conservation Zone (SCZ), underscoring its ecological significance within the Basque Country's network of protected areas.

The park's most defining feature is its karst landscape: a complex system of sinkholes, dolines, and cave passages running through the limestone massif. More than 200 caves have been documented in its subsoil. The most accessible to visitors is Pozalagua Cave, while Torca del Carlista, one of the largest, is reserved for experienced cavers. Above ground, the mountain mass creates a distinctive microclimate that has allowed Mediterranean holm oak woods and beech forests to thrive just a short distance from the Cantabrian coast — an unusual combination for this latitude.

The park's surroundings are also home to native livestock breeds such as the carranzana sheep, the Encartaciones villano dog, and the monchina cow, all of which speak to a rural territory that has preserved its traditional ways of life.