Environment

Bathing localities like Zújar, Cuevas del Campo or Freila, is halfway between the Cazorla Natural Park and the Altiplano de Granada. The dam of Negratín, on its banks, offers wonderful landscapes and breathtaking views from the surrounding hillsides. In addition, in its waters we can enjoy a wide range of active tourism and practice canoeing, fishing, swimming, surfing, etc., concentrating the most important active tourism offer in the north of Granada.

In the Sierra of Baza, near the province of Granada exist several routes for access to Natural Park. Two from the Caniles and Gor towns, and a third way, about 15 km of Baza city in the higway to Guadix, perfectly signalized with a great poster, an exit with the indication “Natural Park of Sierra de Baza”. Immediately after the exit, we circulate about 100 meters around a route on watch, later to direct to us towards the park by a earth track in good conditions. Following this one, we arrived at Narvaez refuge, and after to see the rockiest mountain of Calar of Santa Barbara.

In spring and summer, the track arrives until the King’s Meadows, a precious esplanade of green meadows, and it continues until connecting with the entrances of Caniles and Gor towns. In winter, the normal thing is that we must leave the car before and follow foot by the track, until arriving at the Meadows.

Before arriving, we will exist a refuge normally closed except for a small room for emergency. Of the refuge it separates a gorge to us, reason why, not to have to lower and to raise, we will follow the track to border it.

Thus, a little advanced more exists a crossing and, taking the branch from the right, the way way will take to us until the same door of the refuge.

From the King’s Meadows exist several options. To raise Calar of Santa Barbara, that it is the highest tip of the Sierra of Baza, with 2,270 m.s, or to raise the Boleta, in whose skirt is the refuge. This it has more snow normally than Calar, reason why its ascent can be more interesting, showing in all the route a magnificent panorama on the Sierra of Baza and the King’s Meadows.

It is located in the limit of the Province of Jaen, adjacent to the Natural Park of Cazorla, Segura and Las Villas. It is a mountain range full of contrasts. Its main characteristic is its spectacular relief due to the limestone nature of its ground, with heihts above the 2000 metres, and also due to the erosion of the water. It is full of grottos and galleries, such as La Cueva del Muerto in Sierra Seca, where you can contemplate capricious rock formations, or La Cueva de Don Fernando, the deepest and longest in Granada, full of galleries and rock rooms of deep beauty, such as La Sala de la Colada.

It is crossed from North to South by the Castril River, being the landscape full of waterfalls, canyons, grottos and galleries. Humbleness is an important factor, as well as the difficulty of the ground, both of which shape the vegetable and animal life which develops in the area. There are also lots of springs such as Juan Ruiz, Tubos, La Magdalena or Lézar.

In the north area of Sierra Seca there is a small area where almost the whole year a small lake is formed due to the accumulation of rain water and of snow water. This is and interesting area because it grows there natural grass of a great botanical diversity. You can also find different species of trees such as pine trees, some of which can reach the height of 40 metres, oak trees and some other species of trees which grow in wetter grounds, such as the cliffs of Túnez and Magdalena. There are also different species of bushes in the area.

Thanks to the variety of atmosphere of the mountain range the fauna is also very diverse, being the vulture, which finds here the south-eastern limit of the Peninsula, of great importante. There are also other animal species which live in the area, being the mountain goat, the deer, the wild pig and the lynx some of the species on the ground, the eagle and the hawk some of the species in the air and the common trout and its natural hunters: the otter or the heron some of the species in the water.

The Natural Park of Cazorla, Segura and Las Villas is next to the Altiplano de Granada, at a very short distance from Freila. It is located in the northeast of the Province of Jaen and it links the eastern area of Sierra Morena with the Subbetican system. It offers a great contrast of ecosystems of a great natural value which are very well preserved, as well as a great number of spectacular landscapes which make this park a unique place.

This preserved area has 2170 different species of plants, 34 of which are unique in the world. This area represents the 0,43% of the peninsular Spain, but its interior stores the 20% of its flower species.

Historically this area has remained as a redoubt of the wild fauna, where some of the species which have not survived in nearer areas have survived here. You can find about 280 species of vertebrates (11 of fish, 12 of amphibious, 21 of reptiles, 185 of birds and 51 of mammals). Moreover, there are thousands of valuable invertebrate species. The mammals being the main protagonists, animals such as the mountain goat, the deer or the wild pig. Among the reptiles there is a very important species known as Lagartija Valverde.

It is not of great importance just because its ecological value, but this Natural Park also hides historical and cultural testimonies which make it unique. It consists of three regions where we can find remains of the peninsular cultures. It is of great importance the cave painting art inspired in the eastern region of Spain (declared Patrimony of the Humanity by the UNESCO), some samples of the Iberian culture, some farming villages of the Roman area, lots of towers and fortresses as a heritage of the Muslim domain in the peninsula. Some of this cities were also of great importance in the Renaissance and the Baroque periods.

The Roman-Iberian city of Basti is located in the Cerro Cepero, at about three kilometres away from the city of Baza, in the Altiplano de Granada. Basti was one of the main fortressed Iberian cities of Andalusia. It was founded around the 8th or 7th centuries BC, reaching its maximum splendour among the 5th century BC and de 1st century AD. Some of the main peoples and cultures present in the Iberian Peninsula also settled there until the beginning of the Middle Age, when its w inhabitants moved to the spot where Baza is located nowadays.

You can find two Iberian cementeries located in Cerro Sanuario and in Cerro Largo, being the last the one where the famous Dama de Baza was found in 1971. This statue is the best example of the whole Iberian funeral statues and even of the whole Iberian art.

The thousands of years old city of Baza, were the magnificent Dama de Baza was found, is located in the slope of Sierra de Baza, Natural Park of 52331 hectares, which is an authentic “climatic island” due to its humbleness and abundant vegetation with heights, which contrast with the sorrounding landscape, of more than 2000 metres. Area of historical interest, its artistisctic and historical heritage can be regarded as a summury in stone of the different cultures which through the centuries have settled in the city of Baza. The history of Baza is very old. Its grounds were a shelter for the Homo Sapiens and different cultures were born there. The Bastetanos, an Iberian town of the 4th century BC, settled here and founded the city of Basti, which is the origin of the city of Baza. It was an important comercial centre during the Roman period.

It reached its most slendorous period with the Muslims. On December 4th 1489 it was taken by the Christians after a battle against El Zagal and then it started a period of decadence. Nowadays it is the centre of the commercial activities in the region.

Baza, in the heart of the Altiplano de Granada, it raises, like an island, the limestone mass of hill called Cerro de Jabalcón, with a geologic composition totally different from the sorrounding grounds and which is considered to have formed from the spliting of the limestone part of Sierra de Baza. It is a false belief, which the local population thinks it is true, the fact that the Jabalcón is an old volcano, which is associated to the fact that inside it there is a spring of termal waters, but this is not related to its geologic origin.

In its northern area, the hill offers a landscape full of pine trees, which is the result of the replanting done in the middle of the 20th century. On its foot, in the sourthern area, the town of Zújar is located. From its slopes thermal waters, which have been collected and used in the Baños de Zújar, spring. In this same area, sorrounding the hill in its northwest area, the Negratín dam is found.

In its highest point the hermitage of the Virgen de la Cabeza is found.The people of Zújar go there during their Saint patron festivity, walking along a winding path until they reach the summit, from where you can see the whole Altiplano de Granada. It has to be highlited that you can find a strange rock formation in the way called Ojo de la heredad.

Furthermore, the Jabalcón hill has two flight ways for practising flight sports such as hang-gliding and flight with and without engine. In 2000 the Spaninsh Championship of hang-gliding was done here. It also has rock walls (piedra de Sol and Piedra de los Halcones) for practising rock climbing. In the summer (on August 15th) , the province mountain bike competition is held there.

This path accedes into the source of the Castril River among the bushes, thickets and low vegetation, in a magnificent sorrounding of cliffs and rock walls. To begin it you have to take a path with the shape of a horse shoe which borders a metal gate of a building of recent construction. At about 500 metres you have to follow a small path next to the electrical centre, where you have to be very careful.

To accede into this path you have to reach the Cortijos del Nacimiento, at th end of the way that goes from Castril to this direction.

Lenght: 2600 metres.

Difficulty: low.

Average time: an tour.