Situation
Somontano
Station
All year round. Without snow
Duration (approx.)
6h
Difficulty rating (M.I.D.E.)
M: 3. I: 2. D:2. E:4
Type of route
Circular
Elevation gain
+800 -800 m
BTT
No
Car combination
No
History and culture We will discover the first settlers of this area, hear stories and legends from the Middle Ages, see the early developments in modern engineering and, finally, learn about the latest tourism initiatives in the Vero River basin.
Historical Timeline
If we keep a close eye out throughout the tour, we’ll come across numerous marine fossils. Evidence that these lands were once submerged beneath the sea.
We’ll take a stroll through prehistory and its three art exhibitions. The Fuente del Trucho Cave, 22,000 BC (Palaeolithic art); the rock-shelter sites at Arpán, dating from between 8,000 and 6,000 BC (Levantine art); and the rock-shelter sites at Mallata, dating from 5,000 BC (schematic art).
We will also find remains of the Islamic civilisation that once occupied this territory, such as Alquézar Castle.
During the Middle Ages, the Romanesque bridges we will cross were also built.
The modern era brought with it the Alquézar dam, the power station and the mill.
And today, improvements made to meet tourist demand bring us closer to stunning landscapes via footbridges over the River Vero, steps and handrails in the Barranco de la Fuente, the clearing and refurbishment of old footpaths, and information panels at points of interest.
Description
1- Alquézar
2- Villacantal
3- Cueva de la Fuente del Trucho
4- Cobacho de Arpán
5- Tozal de Mallata
6 – San Caprasio Pass
7- Asque
8- Fuentebaños
9- Pasarelas
10- La Fuente Ravine / Alquézar
1- Our route begins in Alquézar. We will look for the path leading towards the San Lucas pass, near the main square. We will start with a gentle incline and then climb to reach the top of the pass.
2- Once at the top, we will take the path that descends towards the river; it is very easy to spot as it is fenced off. This path leads us to the Villacantal bridge, which we will cross and continue on to a junction. (Signposted).
3- We will take the path on the left towards the Arpán rock shelters/Fuente del Trucho (slightly uphill) until we reach the Lumos pass. We will ignore the path that climbs up the ridge and take the one that descends to the left, reaching the bottom of the ravine and climbing up to the Fuente del Trucho spring.
4- After reaching the Cueva de la Fuente del Trucho, we will continue until we reach a rocky clearing with two information panels. On the left is Arpán; straight ahead are the Mallata rock paintings.
5- After visiting Arpán, we’ll continue along the ascending path. Further on, we’ll turn left and come to a track. We’ll turn left again and continue along the track to the rock art.
6- Now we need to return to the path and head back to the junction leading up from Arpán; we’ll continue straight on and come out onto the road. A few metres further on, we’ll take a track on the right that will take us to Asque, always running parallel to the road.
7- The track crosses the road, then becomes a path and descends to the Asque junction, running alongside a wall. From here, we continue along the road to Asque.
8- From the church, we take a track (signposted) which eventually becomes a path down to Fuente Baños. We cross the bridge and head up another track towards Alquézar.
9- Where the climb levels off, there is a junction (signposted); we turn right and descend to the old power station. Now we simply need to continue over the footbridges, cross the dam, take the final footbridges and turn left.
10- The wooden steps will indicate that we are on the right track. We follow them and arrive back in Alquézar.
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