provincial border provincial

End of this section of the trail, near the the near trail, the of section this of End meadow Mosteruelo the crosses trail The Benavente of Turismo de Parador

tated parts of the track for their recreational use. recreational their for track the of parts tated

the heat, the Reguero creek is crossed. is creek Reguero the heat, the lines pass, MAPA’s Nature Trails Programme has rehabili has Programme Trails Nature MAPA’s pass, lines -

walkways over streams and trails is repeated, passing next next passing repeated, is trails and streams over walkways

Although there are still sections where trains from other other from trains where sections still are there Although areas and brambles, which give welcome shade in in shade welcome give which brambles, and areas

On the other side of the river, the landscape of crops and and crops of landscape the river, the of side other the On 4.

passenger services, and in 1996 goods traffic also stopped. stopped. also traffic goods 1996 in and services, passenger vineyards), with the occasional presence of wooded wooded of presence occasional the with vineyards),

til the end of the 20th century. In 1985 it stopped offering offering stopped it 1985 In century. 20th the of end the til

ry, built in 1932 and reformed in 1949. 1949. in reformed and 1932 in built ry, landscapes of crops (above all corn fields and some some and fields corn all (above crops of landscapes

The railway was opened in 1896, and was fully working un working fully was and 1896, in opened was railway The -

made of more than 250 m of steel and granite mason granite and steel of m 250 than more of made - tention upon entering the town. Once again with the the with again Once town. the entering upon tention

Esla is crossed by means of an impressive viaduct viaduct impressive an of means by crossed is Esla

- at the grab really area, this in towns the in usual very

Sevilla to Gijón. to Sevilla

forest with willows, ashes and hawthorns. The River River The hawthorns. and ashes willows, with forest

ditional wine cellars carved into the hills, which are are which hills, the into carved cellars wine ditional

de España España de ( West’s railway), a transversal line from from line transversal a railway), West’s (Spain

region’s most relevant industries) and later a gallery gallery a later and industries) relevant most region’s

town of Villabrázaro is immediately reached. The tra The reached. immediately is Villabrázaro of town - ferrocarril del Oeste Oeste del ferrocarril the of part up made line zuelo-Astorga

facturing of wooden panels from this tree is one of the the of one is tree this from panels wooden of facturing

- Pala the as known also line, railway Plasencia-Astorga The The road also marks the end of the meadow and the the and meadow the of end the marks also road The 6.

- manu (the grove poplar production a enters trail the

passed the Vía de la Plata route on two occasions. two on route Plata la de Vía the passed

plains of the River Esla. Shortly before meeting again, again, meeting before Shortly Esla. River the of plains PLASENCIA-ASTORGA RAILWAY PLASENCIA-ASTORGA

Before passing below road A-52, the nature trail will have have will trail nature the A-52, road below passing Before is elevated on a slope, among the crops on the flood flood the on crops the among slope, a on elevated is

Mediterranean vegetation dominated by evergreen oaks. oaks. evergreen by dominated vegetation Mediterranean half, during a journey in which the old railway platform platform railway old the which in journey a during half, the end of this section of the Vía de la Plata Nature Trail. Nature Plata la de Vía the of section this of end the

a bridge, the trail enters the Mosteruelo meadow; vast vast meadow; Mosteruelo the enters trail the bridge, a The river and the trail separate for a kilometre and a a and kilometre a for separate trail the and river The 3. vincial border between Zamora and León, which marks marks which León, and Zamora between border vincial

the Los Molinos creek. After passing over the road via via road the over passing After creek. Molinos Los the - pro the reaching right, the on A-6 the of company the

over a ravine that flows into the Esla the into flows that ravine a over

an area of poplars and orchards, in the company of of company the in orchards, and poplars of area an with the scenery of crops, and the final kilometres have have kilometres final the and crops, of scenery the with

of all of these is a slightly larger than 50 metre bridge bridge metre 50 than larger slightly a is these of all of

re reaching the end of the trail. These pass once again again once pass These trail. the of end the reaching re After crossing road ZA-P-15, the route continues along along continues route the ZA-P-15, road crossing After 5.

to pass over rural paths, ravines and streams. The first first The streams. and ravines paths, rural over pass to

- befo left kilometres 4 only is there Rey, del Morales

and bridges are passed over which enable the route route the enable which over passed are bridges and

been converted into a gardened rest area. area. rest gardened a into converted been

After passing below the road from Pobladura to to Pobladura from road the below passing After 9.

the journey towards Benavente, a series of walkways walkways of series a Benavente, towards journey the a hostel for pilgrims, and the station’s surroundings have have surroundings station’s the and pilgrims, for hostel a

der in the River Esla is reached. During the first part of of part first the During reached. is Esla River the in der ving been reconverted as rural accommodation. rural as reconverted been ving served stated, the travellers’ building has been restored as as restored been has building travellers’ the stated, served

- mean a later kilometre a and underneath, passed is

- ha building passengers´ the with condition, good The station of Benavente is finally reached. In a well con well a In reached. finally is Benavente of station The -

tourism-cultural route. Shortly afterwards road N-610 N-610 road afterwards Shortly route. tourism-cultural

the station. The station of Pobladura is in a very very a in is Pobladura of station The station. the and the Los Molinos creek, an arm of the River Órbigo. Órbigo. River the of arm an creek, Molinos Los the and

the route crosses the Vía de la Plata route, which is a a is which route, Plata la de Vía the crosses route the

outskirts of the town and a just a few metres from from metres few a just a and town the of outskirts sits on the right, under the watch of the Caracol Tower Tower Caracol the of watch the under right, the on sits

Leaving the silo behind, it does not take long before before long take not does it behind, silo the Leaving 2. Valle feed factory can be seen on the horizon, on the the on horizon, the on seen be can factory feed Valle

the trail leads along a headland upon which the old town town old the which upon headland a along leads trail the

During the past few kilometres the Pobladura del del Pobladura the kilometres few past the During 8.

ses under a road. Until arriving at the station of Benavente, Benavente, of station the at arriving Until road. a under ses in the . Zamora. of province the in

Barcial del Barco station, on the outskirts of the town town the of outskirts the on station, Barco del Barcial reaches another bridge and enters Benavente after it pas it after Benavente enters and bridge another reaches - nicipality of ) and then towards La Torre. La towards then and Valle) del Torre La of nicipality

This almost 25 kilometre long section leaves from the the from leaves section long kilometre 25 almost This 1. ched. After leaving the sugar industry to one side the trail trail the side one to industry sugar the leaving After ched. - mu the to (belonging Valle del Paladinos first towns, area’s

The trail continues, passing by various detours towards the the towards detours various by passing continues, trail The 7. - rea be can Azoague de Villanueva which via detour a to

BARCO-MAIRE DE CASTROPONCE SECTION CASTROPONCE DE BARCO-MAIRE

VÍA DE LA PLATA. PLATA. LA DE VÍA BARCIAL DEL DEL BARCIAL

NATURE TRAIL NATURE

NORTHWESTERN PENINSULAR NORTHWESTERN SECTOR

SECTOR NORTHWESTERN PENINSULAR Guide to the Nature Trails of Spain

Since 1993 the Ministry for Agriculture, Fisheries and Food‘s Nature Trails Program aims to restore former transport infrastructures such as railway tracks, cattle trails and tradi- tional routes, for public use and enjoyment. BETWEEN RIVERS ESLA AND ÓBRIGO VALLEYS These routes take us to the countryside to discover the bio- diversity and beauty of our precious natural heritage, and discover the villages, sights, traditions and people that are part of the unique cultural landscape of our country. Setting off among crop land (corn, sunflower, vines, etc.) We invite you to visit them and offer you the keys to en- from the platform at the old Plasencia-Astorga railway line, joy the trip. In this brochure you will find a brief description this section of the Vía de la Plata Nature Trail involves the of Vía de la Plata Nature Trail. -Maire de transition between the plains of the River Esla and that of Castroponce section and the map for the journey, along its tributaries, the Órbigo and the passing from Tierra de with recommendations to make the most of this experien- NATURE TRAIL Campos region to the Benavente y los Valles region, both in ce. We only ask one thing of you: do not forget to leave the province of Zamora. The name of this nature trail could everything as you found it. The conservation of these pa- VÍA DE LA PLATA. not be more fitting to its route, as on various occasions it thways is also your responsibility. coincides with the Vía de la Plata Route. DL: BARCIAL DEL BARCO-MAI- TELEPHONES OF INTEREST:

• Barcial del Barco Town Council: 0034 980 64 00 37 RE DE CASTROPONCE • Benavente Town Council: 0034 980 63 04 45 • Maire de Castroponce Town council: 0034 980 65 01 11 NIPO: SECTION

Barcial del Barco to Maire de Castroponce [Zamora]  Mapa I.42.1 Camino Natural Vía de la Plata. Tramo Barcial del Barco - Maire de Castroponce Hoja 1 de 4 NORTHWESTERN PENINSULAR SECTOR Trails Nature

Camino Natural del Esla DE CASTROPONNCE SECTION BARCIAL DELBARCO-MAIRE

9 VÍA DELAPLATA.

8 NATURE TRAIL

7

6

5

Camino Natural Vía de la Plata End of trail Strating point Town Tramo: Barcial del Barco - L.M. Zamora

4

3 Bridge Underpass Detour

2

1 Former station Station Monument environmental interestenvironmental of Feature Ruins Parador

¯ Huso 30 Km 0 2,5 5 7,5 10 Raster nacional 1:200.000. UTM ETRS89 Huso 30