[1] It is located north of the hamlet of Cardaño de Abajo and south-west of Cardaño de Arriba, in the municipality of Velilla del Río Carrión, within the Montaña Palentina Natural Park, 26 km from the regional centre of Guardo and 126 km from the provincial capital, Palencia.

[4] Its limits are established by morpho-structural features: to the north, the thrust fault that directs the waters of the Arroyo Mazobres; to the east, the synclinorium complex that sinks its roots in the Arroyo de las Lomas; to the west, it is drawn against the metamorphic slopes of Caladillos and Carrascal; and to the south, its margin is formed by the prolonged slate and sandstone spines of the Cervera Formation.

[5] Despite its appearance, the Espigüete has numerous hollows in its interior, where there are huge canyons with subway rivers and lakes, deep pits and caves that make it a real treasure for speleologists.

It is a transition area in which taxa typical of central and northern Europe are mixed with others characteristic of the Mediterranean world.

[7] The climatic conditions make it lack vegetation, developing only some lichen and small plants characteristic of the high mountains.