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Easy Walks
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Saturday, 17 January 2009 18:45 |
 This short walk leads you through mixed Mediterranean woodland dominated by evergreen and deciduous oaks. It will take anything from around one to two hours, depending on how inquisitive you are. Birds calling from the trees include Woodpeckers, Nuthatches, Jays, Firecrests, Long-tailed tits and Treecreepers with Hoopoes during the summer months and Griffon vultures plus Eagles soaring through the open skies above. The path is comfortably shaded through the heat of summer and verdant through the winter/ spring.

The entrance to this walk can be found on the road between Grazalema and Benamahoma, this is the A 372. Pull off at km marker 37 sign posted for 'Area Recreativa' (2 km from Benamahoma). The site is obvious as there is a fenced off field with an area marked out for football and a small building (whose shaded area is very popular with nesting swallows in the spring). There is ample parking at this recreational area. (This part will be busiest on weekends, so if you have a choice aim to go on a week day.) Enter the grassy field alongside the largest metal gates and head diagonally uphill and away from the road across this play area / cattle grazing pasture. As you go past the first oak trees there is another, smaller gate to pass through.

Now you are in the shade of the woods and the path itself is not easy to see. With your back to the gate continue up and left (on a similar diagonal as before) taking you towards rocks where the soil has been eroded by rain water. Meandering between  these rocks over the uneven ground there are occasional wooden arrows to assure you that you are on the correct route - but only once you start to climb. In places the ground has been warn smooth but there are points at which the path diverges and then consolidates again. In summer time the dappled shade is very welcome and during the winter notice how green the rocks and trees are with their covering of mosses and ferns. The under growth is mainly Lentisc, Purple Phlomis and Gorse with rambling plants such as Dutchman’s pipe, Smilax and Periwinkle. In the spring there may be a variety of orchids. The path becomes wider and levels out as you approach an old derelict farm building surrounded by large girthed oak trees. This is the highest point and from here you descend gently to a junction and onto a partially cobbled track. From here continue to the left heading downhill - but first, a short detour can prove interesting. If you go straight across this junction onto the narrowest path it leads you through gorse bushes etc which are encroaching onto the path and then opens out again at a water trough provided for domestic livestock.
Looking into the trough you may see Fire Salamanders in their earliest stages, they are  like brown tadpoles with visible gills. As adults these nocturnal reptiles are an amazing yellow and black colour. During the warmth of summer the surrounding damp patches are frequented by butterflies and bees.
Return to the main path and head downhill. Here the plant life changes slightly and now includes Strawberry trees, Laurustinus, Stinking iris, Dorycnium and Honeysuckle. There is one fairly mature tree that stands out from the others as you gently descend on this one time cobbled track, it is a Spanish Fir Tree (Abies pinsapo) for which this park is most well known. On this side of the mountains are just a few scattered examples as most are on the north slope of 'Sierra del Pinar' mountain of which 'El Torreón' is the highest peak. (Just north east of where you are here) As this track approaches the main road you should take the narrow rock-edged path to the left which goes through a small gate and then ascends slightly under the oak trees. (Ignoring the sign which says 'Area Recreativa' and points back the way you have just come from!) You will soon recognise the pasture where you began, head for the main gated entrance back to your vehicle.
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Last Updated on Sunday, 18 January 2009 12:01 |