Barranco de Poqueira route

Shortly after leaving Pampaneira, the walker gets a view of the village, made up of stacks of houses with grey ‘terraos’, the name given to the roofs of the houses topped off with a special type of clay known locally as ‘launa’. The path winds gently up amongst terraced banks on the slopes, dotted with fruit trees and other typical trees of the region. This cultural landscape extends on both sides of the gorge, and is the legacy of the Moorish inhabitants who colonized the slopes of the Sierra Nevada. In order to make mountain farming productive, a complex network of irrigation channels was designed, which is still preserved today. This network of irrigation channels is of great cultural value, not only for agricultural purposes, but also for the enormous impact it has on the surrounding landscape and the ecosystems.

After 45 minutes of walking uphill, we reach the houses of the Hondo district of Bubión. Cross the lower part of the village, passing the church, and take the path that goes up to Capileira, running almost parallel to the present-day road. The path passes close to some restored cortijos (farmhouses), and crosses cultivated banks where you seemany cherry, apple, pear and peach trees. 

After a climb of about two kilometres, you will reach Capileira, the most brightly lit village in the Gorge, as it is the village that gets the most hours of sun. Cross Capileira and go down to the river and continue the route.

When you reach the Puente Chiscar you can either take the path leading from the threshing areas of Aldeire, or from the last houses of the lower part of the village. 

The two descending paths lead you towards the bridge. Cross it and you will reach the other sloping side of the gorge to start the journey home, heading now towards the south. 

The return journey is along a pleasant, even footpath. After crossing the Barranco de Haza Redonda Gorge, and before arriving at the Barranco de las Rosas gorge, the path begins a smooth ascent until it crosses the gorge in the middle of a small forest of prickly gorse shrubs.

The traveller has a marvellous view of the villages of Poqueira and their white houses with grey roofs, huddled together on the slope. If you look in the direction from where you came from, you can see the high river basin of the Rio Poqueira with the hulking mass of the Mulhacén summit looming in the background. 

After walking through a small oak wood cross the river again, over the bridge called the Puente de la Higuerilla. Continueon the footpath that winds through farmed terraces, crossing a few minor gorges filled with poplar trees, until reaching Bubión. 

This return path enters Bubión near the sports centre. From here you pass the church, and finally reach the Royal Road that you took coming up, to return to Pampaneira, where the route ends.