The nature reserve covers an area of 67 000 hectares in the western part of the province of Córdoba. Its mountains are not particularly high but have been cut deep by watercourses hollowing out steep-sided gorges. Oaks, durmasts and wild olives cloak the hills, and poplars, alders and ash line the streams. The fauna includes deer, wild boar, wolves and Iberian lynxes. There's an information centre near Hornachuelos.