Muniellos Nature Reserve in Asturias, Spain

© Andres M. Dominguez/Minden Picture

From little acorns…. Muniellos Nature Reserve

The Muniellos Nature Reserve is one of Spain's best-preserved forests of Quercus robur, otherwise known as common oak, European oak, or English oak. The 13,560-acre reserve in Asturias province also includes sessile oaks, seen in our photo alongside beech trees.

In the 1970s logging was banned in the reserve. Soon after, hunting was also banned. Today, even human access to this UNESCO-designated biosphere is carefully controlled. There's a visitor center, and that's about as far as most tourists are allowed. We're just glad we have photos of this incredible forest.