The Colomera route

Colomera is the start and the finish of this route. Cars may be left in the lower part of the village (it is very difficult to drive around the village itself) and from there go on foot through the built-up area until you reach the upper part of the village. Take an uphill path opposite a reservoir/water tank.

It is here that you will find an information board showing the layout of the route. The first stop worth making is in the area of the Hundidero near the Iglesia de la Encarnación and the ruins of the old castle (parts of the walls and some of the towers are still standing) that look out over the village. The first part of the journey is a gentle and gradual uphill walk along a wide lane. You will enjoy the delicious scents of rosemary, thyme and lavender amongst many others. The path winds upwards until it reaches a streambed at which point the path becomes steeper.

At the top of this slope you will reach the Puerto de los Lobos Harteros pass, the highest point of the route (1200 metres of altitude), where you will get a spectacular view of the Colomera reservoir and of the village. From here the route begins to descend in the direction of the road, which you can see from the pass above. After crossing a stretch of scrubland with of olive groves, the path dwindles and it is easy to get lost.

But after passing this area the route becomes much easier to follow. The path widens out again, running parallel to the reservoir. After ten minutes the path turns into a dirt track again, which leads you to the source of the Cauro. This is a great place to stop as you will have been walking for about two hours now.

The path twists right and will lead you to cross the reservoir. You may be lucky enough to see some very fish, such as carp, by throwing some breadcrumbs into the water to encourage the fish to come to the surface. There are many sporting and leisure activities on offer in this area, such as swimming and fishing as well as sailing and canoeing.

Immediately after crossing the dam the path turns left and you continue along the shore of the reservoir until you reaches the Benalúa de las Viñas road. On crossing you will see a wide path along which the route continues. A little further ahead you will reach the Cortijo del Chopo with a fountain and various shaded areas, a great place to rest for a while. From here onwards the route is very easy until you reach the Visigoth necropolis. It is a burial ground set deep within the surrounding olive trees. Most of the graves are open and some are still in very good condition with their tombstones still in place.

After this stop the track gets a bit complicated as the crops have swallowed the original path and for about 150 metres you have to walk through an olive grove until you reach a very narrow pathway that runs parallel to a gully. When there is some water in the gully, it creates a stunning waterfall. Here you can many ammonites (spiral, shell-shaped fossils from the Cretaceous period). Students of the Paleontology Faculty of the University of Granada are often to be found here.

The path continues to descend parallel to the ravine you reach the Benalúa road. Following the road and you will arrive at the Roman bridge that leads over the Río Colomera. There is a recently-restored oil mill here too. After crossing the bridge follow a path uphill until you arrive at the village where the journey ends.