Nature Trail Nature

María Cristina Canal and its branches branches its and Canal Cristina María Trail Nature Oriental Soriana Real Cañada Trail Nature Greenway Alcaraz de Sierra

drop of water levels, except for in the city of Albacete. of city the in for except levels, water of drop this agricultural landscape all the way to Fuentidueña de Tajo. de Fuentidueña to way the all landscape agricultural this

trail runs along 176.3 km, starting at the south of the city of Cáceres Cáceres of city the of south the at starting km, 176.3 along runs trail sanitary conditions. Today, it has lost its original function due to the the to due function original its lost has it Today, conditions. sanitary Royal Drovers’ Road in the Peninsula, allowing the traveller to enjoy enjoy to traveller the allowing Peninsula, the in Road Drovers’ Royal

This nature nature This Badajoz). (Cáceres, corridor Badajoz Cáceres- allowed to create more agricultural lands and improved the town’s town’s the improved and lands agricultural more create to allowed Real Soriana Oriental drove’s road, one of the nine Cañadas Reales or or Reales Cañadas nine the of one road, drove’s Oriental Soriana Real

through the southeast of Madrid, following the layout of the Cañada Cañada the of layout the following Madrid, of southeast the through 1804 to drain water from the marshes that surround Albacete, which which Albacete, surround that marshes the from water drain to 1804

the River Rivera de Acebo before of after the hike. the after of before Acebo de Rivera River the

This route goes goes route This (Madrid). Oriental Soriana Real Cañada

branches of this important civil work. Works on the canal started in in started canal the on Works work. civil important this of branches Acebo, the traveller may enjoy a swim in the natural pools in in pools natural the in swim a enjoy may traveller the Acebo,

branches of this Nature Trail follow the layout of the most important important most the of layout the follow Trail Nature this of branches

paths that start there. In this point located 2 km away from from away km 2 located point this In there. start that paths here, but the Tagus continues across Portugal to Lisbon. to Portugal across continues Tagus the but here,

The five five The (Albacete). branches its and Canal Cristina María

starting point either in the El Jevero recreational area or in the the in or area recreational Jevero El the in either point starting Guadalajara, Madrid, Toledo and, finally, Cáceres. The trail ends ends trail The Cáceres. finally, and, Toledo Madrid, Guadalajara,

vince of Caceres is formed by seven paths which all have their their have all which paths seven by formed is Caceres of vince

Tagus is located, the trail crosses the provinces of Teruel, Cuenca, Cuenca, Teruel, of provinces the crosses trail the located, is Tagus today, contributing greatly to the socio-economic growth of the area. the of growth socio-economic the to greatly contributing today,

- pro the across trail This (Cáceres). Acebo de Rivera River

Universales, in the Sierra de Albarracín, where the source of the the of source the where Albarracín, de Sierra the in Universales, and opened the way for wine production which continues to prosper prosper to continues which production wine for way the opened and

at the Western Coast of the Iberian Peninsula. From the Montes Montes the From Peninsula. Iberian the of Coast Western the at

gradual abandonment of scarcely-profitable cereal crops in the area, area, the in crops cereal scarcely-profitable of abandonment gradual ) stand out. stand ) isabelae

yout over more than 1,000 km heading to the Atlantic Ocean Ocean Atlantic the to heading km 1,000 than more over yout

20th century. The arrival of this train, known as the “Trenillo,” saw the the saw “Trenillo,” the as known train, this of arrival The century. 20th Graellsia Graellsia ( moth moon Spanish nocturnal the or eagle imperial

- la diverse and plural a forms trail This Cáceres). Toledo,

biodiversity, severely endangered species such as the Spanish Spanish the as such species endangered severely biodiversity, and Quintanar de la Orden was inaugurated at the beginning of the the of beginning the at inaugurated was Orden la de Quintanar and

River Tagus (Teruel, Cuenca, Guadalajara, MAdrid, MAdrid, Guadalajara, Cuenca, (Teruel, Tagus River

in which the River Lozoya is a constant presence. Among its rich rich its Among presence. constant a is Lozoya River the which in vince of Toledo, the railway line spanning the 26 km between Villacañas Villacañas between km 26 the spanning line railway the Toledo, of vince

valley dotted with shrines hidden among century-old pines and and pines century-old among hidden shrines with dotted valley - pro the in Mancha, La of heart the In (Toledo). Greenway Trenillo border, in the Huelva side, before reaching into the Atlantic sea. Atlantic the into reaching before side, Huelva the in border,

the traveller may know the southern side of the Guadarrama, a a Guadarrama, the of side southern the know may traveller the

ses into Portugal, going back to Spain, all along the Portuguese Portuguese the along all Spain, to back going Portugal, into ses

Serena (Badajoz). The works were definitively abandoned in 1962. in abandoned definitively were works The (Badajoz). Serena

posed by five different hikes or complementary routes by which which by routes complementary or hikes different five by posed

- cros river the when interrupted is and stages, 44 in distance

Badajoz, passing by Talavera de la Reina (Toledo) and Villanueva de la la de Villanueva and (Toledo) Reina la de Talavera by passing Badajoz,

- com is trail nature long km 31,7 This (Madrid). Valley Lozoya

gest river in the Iberian Peninsula. This nature trail covers this this covers trail nature This Peninsula. Iberian the in river gest

creating a railway line to make a shorter route between Madrid and and Madrid between route shorter a make to line railway a creating

- lon second the is long, km 818 Guadiana, River The Huelva).

tection at several levels, both regional and international. and regional both levels, several at tection

it was built to connect Extremadura to the centre of the Peninsula by by Peninsula the of centre the to Extremadura connect to built was it

River Guadiana (Albacete, Cuenca, Ciudad Real, Badajoz, Badajoz, Real, Ciudad Cuenca, (Albacete, Guadiana River

- pro enjoy areas these reason, this For rest. or breed live, animals,

was never operative. It was projected under the rule of Alfonso XIII and and XIII Alfonso of rule the under projected was It operative. never was

and zoological value, where a large number of birds and other other and birds of number large a where value, zoological and

creating a trail of 185 km across an intensely beautiful landscape. beautiful intensely an across km 185 of trail a creating line that connected Calera and Chozas with Santa Quiteria, a line that that line a Quiteria, Santa with Chozas and Calera connected that line

ce of Toledo. These lagoons are unique in terms of their botanical botanical their of terms in unique are lagoons These Toledo. of ce

Extremadura) and the Jara Nature Trail (Toledo, Castilla-La Mancha), Mancha), Castilla-La (Toledo, Trail Nature Jara the and Extremadura) This 51 km trail runs along the railway railway the along runs trail km 51 This (Toledo). Greenway Jara La

- provin the of part southeastern the and Real Ciudad of province creation allows to link the Vegas del Guadiana Nature Trail (Cáceres, (Cáceres, Trail Nature Guadiana del Vegas the link to allows creation

close to the largest wintering area for cranes in the Iberian Peninsula. Iberian the in cranes for area wintering largest the to close

with great natural value, located in the northeastern part of the the of part northeastern the in located value, natural great with cipality of Puerto de San Vicente, in the province of Toledo. Its Its Toledo. of province the in Vicente, San de Puerto of cipality

traveller, besides the beauty of its landscape, the possibility of getting getting of possibility the landscape, its of beauty the besides traveller,

trail follows a 150 km route along a series of disperse lagoons lagoons disperse of series a along route km 150 a follows trail - muni the and Cáceres, of province the in Alía, and Guadalupe

the outbreak of the Spanish Civil War. Its layout over 57.2 km offers the the offers km 57.2 over layout Its War. Civil Spanish the of outbreak the The The Toledo). Cuenca, Real, (Ciudad Wetlands Mancha La Villurecas region across the municipalities of Logrosán, Cañamero, Cañamero, Logrosán, of municipalities the across region Villurecas

area with Talavera de la Reina. Work was abandoned definitively with with definitively abandoned was Work Reina. la de Talavera with area This trail runs along the Las Las the along runs trail This Toledo). (Cáceres, Villuercas Las

those that follow the rivers Guadiana and Tagus. and Guadiana rivers the follow that those

llowing an old railway line which had been planned to connect this this connect to planned been had which line railway old an llowing

ger trails such as Villuercas o Jara or really long trails, such as as such trails, long really or Jara o Villuercas as such trails ger

de Cortes (57.3 km), Albacete–Balazote (30.1 km) and Reolid (19.5 km). (19.5 Reolid and km) (30.1 Albacete–Balazote km), (57.3 Cortes de

- fo (Cáceres) Logrosán and (Badajoz) Serena la de Villanueva joins

- lon Guadalimar, or Alcaraz de Sierra the Greenway, Trenillo the

Eastern Spain. The trail Is formed by three sections: El Jardín-Santuario Jardín-Santuario El sections: three by formed Is trail The Spain. Eastern

This trail trail This Cáceres). (Badajoz, Greenway Guadiana del Vegas

briefly described. Among them, middle distance routes, such as as such routes, distance middle them, Among described. briefly a continuous rail network intended to connect Andalusia and France by by France and Andalusia connect to intended network rail continuous a

Here, the Nature Trails running through Castile-La Mancha are are Mancha Castile-La through running Trails Nature the Here, south to the city of Badajoz. Its layouts follows old cattle roads. cattle old follows layouts Its Badajoz. of city the to south This trail follows the layout of the Baeza-Utiel railine, which was part of of part was which railine, Baeza-Utiel the of layout the follows trail This

until ending west of Valverde de Leganés, approximately 30 km km 30 approximately Leganés, de Valverde of west ending until NETWORK). (TRAIL (Albacete) Greenway Alcaraz de Sierra MADRID AND EXTREMADURA AND MADRID

IN CASTILE - LA MANCHA, MANCHA, LA - CASTILE IN NATURE TRAILS NATURE

Since 1993 the Ministry for Agriculture and Fisheries, Food and the Environment’s Nature Trails Program aims to restore Guide to the former transport infrastructures such as railway tracks, catt- le trails and traditional routes, for public use and enjoyment. Nature These routes take us to the countryside to discover the bio- Trails diversity and beauty of our precious natural heritage, and of Spain discover the villages, sights, traditions and people that are part of the unique cultural landscape of our country. We invite you to visit the Nature Trails in Castile-La Mancha, Madrid and Extremadura and offer you the keys to enjoy the trip. We only ask one thing of you: do not forget to lea-

as Villuercas Nature Trail ve everything as you found it. The conservation of these pathways is also your responsibility.

WALKS THROUGH THE SOUTHERN MESA

The 13 Nature Trails that are described in this booklet are located in a large area covering three Autonomous Communities (Madrid, Extremadura y Castile-La Mancha), which is vertebrated by its two main rivers, River Tagus and River Guadiana. This large area hides many landscapes and secluded areas, both natural and historical, for the walker to enjoy.

River Tagus Nature Trail NATURE TRAILS IN CASTILE - LA MORE INFORMATION:

www.mapama.gob.es/en/desarrollo-rural/temas/caminos-naturales MANCHA, MADRID

NIPO: 013-17-167-6 AND EXTREMADURA CN del Ebro SORIA

SEGOVIA ATIENZA ZARAGOZA

BUITRAGO DEL LOZOYA PORTUGAL SALAMANCA GUADALAJARA CN del valle del Lozoya

COLLADO VILLALBA CN del Tajo GUADALAJARA MADRID SACEDÓN COLMENAR DEL ARROYO ÁVILA MADRID TERUEL ARGANDA DEL REY

CN del río Rivera de Acebo HUETE ILLESCAS

TALAVERA TARANCÓN PLASENCIA DE LA REINA CUENCA OCAÑA NAVALMORAL DE LA MATA CN del Tajo CUENCA TOLEDO CÁCERES CN Vía Verde del Trenillo. CN del Tajo TOLEDO Tramo Villacañas a Quintanar de la Orden VALENCIA CN Vía Verde de La Jara CÁCERES TRUJILLO CN de Las Villuercas CN de los Humedales de La Mancha CHIVA BUÑOL

CN Vía Verde FUENTEALBILLA Vegas del Guadiana HERRERA LA RODA DEL DUQUE TOMELLOSO MIAJADAS PUEBLA DE CN del corredor DON RODRIGO DAIMIEL CN del Guadiana CN del Canal de Mª Cristina y sus ramales Cáceres-Badajoz MANZANARES

MÉRIDA ALBACETE CIUDAD REAL CN del Guadiana CN de la Sierra de Alcaraz. BADAJOZ CN del Guadiana VALDEPEÑAS Tramo Albacete-Balazote PUERTOLLANO LA ALBUERA ALMENDRALEJO CN de la Sierra de Alcaraz. CN del corredor Tramo El Jardín-Santuario de Cortes Cáceres-Badajoz BADAJOZ CIUDAD REAL ALBACETE HELLÍN CN del Guadiana ZAFRA CN de la Sierra de Alcaraz. Tramo Reolid

CÓRDOBA JAÉN MURCIA

HUELVA SEVILLA