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River

Nalón

153 km from source to mouth · Spain.

SpainSpainFlows into Ria de San Esteban de Pravia

Follow the riverMonth by month

SourceMouth
The river and every tributary in its basin, drawn from RiverATLAS (CC BY 4.0).

In numbers

Length

153km

Average flow

55m³/s

Basin

4,907km²

Drop

528m

from 527 m to -1 m

Country

1

The journey

From source to mouth

153 km of river and 68 stops on the way: 62 towns and cities on its banks, dams, bridges and the tributaries that feed it.

527 m-1 m
Puerto de Tarnaat 527 m0 km
Tanes Reservoir0.7 km²20 km
Samartín del Rei Aurelio15,531 people48 km
Sama39,984 people57 km
Caudaltributary85 km
Alfilorios reservoir0.3 km²91 km
Grado9,839 people120 km
Cubiatributary125 km
Ria de San Esteban de Praviaat -1 m153 km
050100153 km
  1. 0 kmPuerto de Tarnaat 527 m
  2. 0 kmSobrecastiellu337 people
  3. 7 kmEl Campu291 people
  4. 7 kmCampo de Caso2,071 people
  5. 13 kmCoballes74 people
  6. 17 kmTañes163 people
  7. 20 kmTanes Reservoir0.7 km²
  8. 25 kmOviñana552 people
  9. 32 kmEl Condao507 people
  10. 34 kmLlorío605 people
  11. 38 kmEntrialgo210 people
  12. 39 kmLa Pola Llaviana8,357 people
  13. 40 kmPola de Laviana9,106 people
  14. 41 kmCarrio113 people
  15. 42 kmTiraña1,523 people
  16. 46 kmBlimea2,932 people
  17. 48 kmSamartín3,471 people
  18. 48 kmSamartín del Rei Aurelio15,531 people
  19. 51 kmSan Andrés de Llinares7,928 people
  20. 52 kmL'Entregu/El Entrego7,400 people
  21. 57 kmSama39,984 people
  22. 59 kmLa Felguera21,000 people
  23. 60 kmLada3,000 people
  24. 65 kmRiañu366 people
  25. 71 kmVeguín664 people
  26. 73 kmNaves107 people
  27. 76 kmTudela Agüeria563 people
  28. 78 kmSantolaya221 people
  29. 79 kmOlloniego916 people
  30. 83 kmPerera345 people
  31. 84 kmTeyego211 people
  32. 85 kmCaudaltributary
  33. 86 kmSoto Ribera365 people
  34. 86 kmFerreros775 people
  35. 91 kmPalombar158 people
  36. 91 kmAlfilorios reservoir0.3 km²
  37. 93 kmPuerto187 people
  38. 95 kmCaces284 people
  39. 95 kmPriorio367 people
  40. 96 kmSograndio382 people
  41. 99 kmGodos546 people
  42. 99 kmTrubia1,855 people
  43. 103 kmNoratributary
  44. 103 kmSan Pedru Nora103 people
  45. 105 kmBerció99 people
  46. 109 kmL'Escampleru650 people
  47. 113 kmValdunu269 people
  48. 119 kmPeñaflor225 people
  49. 120 kmGrado9,839 people
  50. 122 kmCuero168 people
  51. 123 kmPrahúa78 people
  52. 125 kmMurias236 people
  53. 125 kmCubiatributary
  54. 127 kmGrullos193 people
  55. 128 kmAces73 people
  56. 129 kmEl Valle126 people
  57. 129 kmSan Román276 people
  58. 131 kmSan Tirso123 people
  59. 132 kmFenolleda191 people
  60. 133 kmQuinzanas84 people
  61. 135 kmPronga46 people
  62. 136 kmNarceatributary
  63. 139 kmPravia5,879 people
  64. 143 kmRiberas322 people
  65. 147 kmSoto del Barco1,473 people
  66. 151 kmMuros de Nalón1,496 people
  67. 151 kmSan Esteban446 people
  68. 151 kmRanón1,589 people
  69. 152 kmSan Juan de la Arena1,445 people
  70. 153 kmRia de San Esteban de Praviaat -1 m

Water level along the river (RiverATLAS; the height is exaggerated). Towns: GeoNames and Wikidata; bridges, dams and tributaries: Wikidata.

River in Spain

At the mouth it carries 55 m³/s on average: an Olympic pool every 45 seconds. It drops from 527 m to -1 m, 3.5 m per kilometre on average. Its basin covers 4,907 km², about the size of TT. 503,000 people live in it. Highest water: from November to December; lowest: from July to August. No large dam holds it back: it is one of the world's free-flowing rivers.

Read more on Wikipedia

Where to start

  • SamaLargest city on its banks · 39,984 people
  • Asturias Airport (OVD)Nearest airport with scheduled flights, 41 km from the cityCar hire at OVD airport (Ranón)Discover Cars · Affiliate link
  • On the water6 ferry piers, marinas, boat rentals and boat ramps along the river (OpenStreetMap)
  • From May to SeptemberThe best months to visit

Nalón, month by month

Highest water: from November to December

Lowest water: from July to August. Best months to visit: from May to September.

170
8°72 mmJan
130
9°63 mmFeb
110
10°62 mmMar
140
12°94 mmApr
100
14°61 mmMay
61
17°50 mmJun
28
19°40 mmJul
32
19°52 mmAug
55
18°61 mmSep
110
15°86 mmOct
210
11°115 mmNov
200
9°83 mmDec
Water (estimated flow)Air (average) Rain (mm)Best months

From about 28 m³/s in the lowest month to 210 m³/s in the highest. An estimate: the monthly flow is modelled from the lowest and highest months of WaterGAP (RiverATLAS, 1971–2000) and the rain and snow along the river (WorldClim). Dams change the real rhythm. The chip is the average air temperature; below it, the month's rain.

Plan the trip

Plan the trip: boat trips, a bed by the river, a car

Car hire at OVD airport (Ranón)Discover CarsSee 

Some links above are affiliate links: if you book through them we may earn a commission, at no extra cost to you. It never changes what the data on this page says.

The basin

Nalón: the basin in numbers

4,906 km² of land send their water to this river. This is what lives on it.

Free-flowingDams upstream can hold only 0.8% of a year's flow: the river still keeps its natural rhythm.
  • 503,000people live in the basin
  • 102/km²people per km²
  • 782maverage altitude of the basin
  • 897mmof rain a year (basin average)
  • 10.6°Caverage air temperature
  • 33%protected areas
  • 0.0km³held in reservoirs

What covers the basin

  • 79% Forest
  • 4% Cropland
  • 30% Pasture
  • 5% Towns and cities

RiverATLAS (HydroATLAS v1.0, CC BY 4.0): land cover, people, protected areas, glaciers and dams over the whole basin upstream of the mouth.

Along the river

Nalón: what you find on the way

  • 4DamsPresa de Tanes, Presa de Rioseco, Priañes and 1 more
  • 47Weirs
  • 5Boat ramps
  • 1Marinas
  • 8River beachesPlaya de La Coaña, Playas de Xan-Xún y Las Llanas, Playa de Cazonera and 5 more

From OpenStreetMap, within 1.6 km of the river. Not mapped is not the same as not there.

Cross-checked with our atlases

Nalón in our other atlases

What our sister atlases know about the waterfalls on this river, the lakes it flows through, the beaches at its mouth, the mountains where it rises and the islands off its mouth.

  • 2lakes on its wayLakeyas
  • 9beaches at the mouth and on the banksCoastya
  • 5mountains at the sourcePeakyas
  • 2islands off the mouthIslandyas

Lakes and reservoirs (2)

Lakes it flows through, by Lakeyas

  1. Tanes Reservoirkm 140.7km²
  2. Alfilorios reservoirkm 660.3km²

Lakeyas is coming soonOpen Lakeyas ↗

Beaches (9)

At the mouth (25 km) and on the banks, by Coastya

  1. Playa del Espartal10 km away20.5°C
  2. Playa Llodero13 km away20.5°C
  3. Playa de los Quebrantoskm 11120.3°C
  4. Playón de Bayas2.9 km away20.3°C
  5. Playa de Aguilar3.4 km away20.3°C
  6. Playa de San Pedro12 km away20.3°C
  7. Ensenada de Santa María del Mar6.6 km away · cove20.5°C
  8. Ensenada de Bañugues23 km away · cove20.5°C

1 more on CoastyaOpen Coastya ↗

Mountains at the source (5)

Within 15 km of the source, by Peakyas

  1. Tiatordos9.8 km away1,950m
  2. Peña Ten6.1 km away
  3. Sierra de Sentiles14 km away
  4. Mampodre6.3 km away
  5. Sierra de Corteguero14 km away

Open Peakyas ↗

Islands off the mouth (2)

Within 30 km of the mouth, by Islandyas

  1. Isla Herbosa, Asturias20 km away
  2. Isla La Deva y el Playón de Bayas4.5 km away0.8km²

Islandyas is coming soonOpen Islandyas ↗

From space

The source and the mouth, seen from orbit

Nalón: satellite view of the source
The source14 km across
Nalón: satellite view of the mouth
The mouth10 km across

Sentinel-2 cloudless 2016 by EOX IT Services GmbH (contains modified Copernicus Sentinel data 2016), CC BY 4.0. The glowing line is the river as drawn by RiverATLAS.

Photos

Nalón in pictures

Río Nalón
No machine-readable author provided. RMNORIEGABMS assumed (based on copyright claims). · CC BY-SA 2.5
Rio nalon
Yandrak · CC BY-SA 3.0
Camino de San Salvador, Río Nalón 01
Mongolo1984 · CC BY-SA 4.0
Desembocadura del rio Nalon
amaria.fuente · CC BY-SA 4.0

Tributaries

Where it flows, and what flows into it

Tributaries (9)

Also: Narcea, Nora, Caudal, Cubia, Trubia, Candín, Orlé, Caleao, Sama

Nearby

Rivers nearby

NaviaSpainSpain160 km63 m³/s52 km awaySilisSpainSpain228 km240 m³/s183 km awayCarrión RiverSpainSpain179 km21 m³/s184 km awayEslaSpainSpain285 km140 m³/s232 km awayPisuerga RiverSpainSpain283 km110 m³/s247 km awayTormesSpainSpain284 km42 m³/s255 km awayMinho RiverPortugalPortugal315 km340 m³/s286 km awayNerviónSpainSpain76 km9.6 m³/s248 km away

Where these numbers come from

Name, length, placesWikidata (Q14516) · CC0
Course, profile, basinRiverATLAS v1.0 (HydroATLAS, Linke et al. 2019) · CC BY 4.0 — followed from the source to the mouth given by Wikidata
FlowWaterGAP (RiverATLAS), 1971–2000 · CC BY 4.0
Climate along the riverWorldClim (RiverATLAS), 1970–2000 · CC BY 4.0
Towns, bridges, damsWikidata · CC0; GeoNames · CC BY 4.0
Along the river© OpenStreetMap contributors · ODbL
ImagesEOX Sentinel-2 cloudless 2016 · CC BY 4.0; Wikimedia Commons
Our other atlasesLakeyas, Coastya, Peakyas, Islandyas — Wikidata · CC0; © OpenStreetMap contributors · ODbL; GeoNames · CC BY 4.0; HydroLAKES · CC BY 4.0; NOAA OISST

Every source and licence is on the data sources page.

The family

Do you prefer beaches, lakes, mountains, waterfalls, islands, rivers or canyons?

Same idea, other landscapes: field atlases built on open data, month by month, in seven languages.

beachesCoastyaFind your beach: sea temperature, sun and swimming month by month.Visit
lakesLakeyasEvery lake on Earth: water temperature, ice, depth and the shore.Coming soonVisit
mountainsPeakyasEvery summit in 3D: summit weather, the 0 °C line, huts and trails.Visit
waterfallsCascadyasEvery waterfall: height, flow month by month and when it roars.Coming soonVisit
islandsIslandyasEvery island from the sea up: size, sea temperature, ferries and 3D.Coming soonVisit
riversRiveryasEvery river from source to sea: the journey, the flow and the basin in numbers.You are here
canyonsCanyonyasEvery canyon cut to scale: depth to the floor, rim and floor temperatures, trails and viewpoints.Coming soonVisit