Nature tourism

The Route of the 99 is a route that was created throughout the country to encourage visitors to visit towns with less than 100 inhabitants. 5 of these towns can be found throughout the Espadán-Mijares municipality group, which keep their charm between the silence, disconnection and peace that can be breathed walking through their streets. You will get a credential for each town you visit. Are you ready to discover these small charming towns? 

In the town of Argelita you will have the opportunity to see a great variety of fountains, among which is the Fuente de la Santa Cruz, where you can see its source among the rocks. It is a unique place where you can spend a perfect family day, you can make use of the picnic areas that are in the fountain itself and enjoy a picnic and games with the whole family in the middle of nature. Before starting the walk to the fountain, we recommend that you stop by the Argelita bakery to taste their handmade products and immerse yourself in an experience that combines nature and local gastronomy.                                                                              

Escape to the town of Ayódar with your family, partner or friends and visit the Pozo de la Olla. You will have the opportunity to visit this natural site and enjoy a day of swimming in its natural pools of crystal clear water. Moreover, in order to spend a perfect day, you can take a small picnic to regain your strength while enjoying this paradisical environment in the heart of the Sierra de Espadán.       

Enjoy a unique aquatic caving experience where you will visit La Cueva del Toro, located in the Sierra de Espadán, with an underground river that has a multitude of waterfalls and various geological formations (stalactites, stalagmites, etc.). A unique experience suitable for all audiences.

Visit the town of Fuentes de Ayódar for a magical experience thanks to its authentic and majestic Mediterranean forests. You will enter the splendid landscape of the Sierra de Espadán to enjoy the magic of nature that you will find all over its slopes and trails. You will have the opportunity to see unique forests with a multitude of trees such as pines, oaks, cork oaks and aromatic plants. 

Take a trip with your whole family and spend a unique weekend together, you will stay in a special and very different rural house, an old oil mill. It is completely adapted for accommodation, but it will allow you to transport back to the past. Not only will you stay in this interesting rural house, you will also have the opportunity to discover the uninhabited Jinquer, an old town evacuated during the Civil War that holds many secrets and stories. You can also enter the Sierra de Espadán to discover an ancient fortress used by the Arabs to defend themselves from invaders.

Aín, a municipality nestled in the heart of the Mediterranean Forest, where you can enjoy an unrepeatable experience. On this route you will be able to discover all the natural and cultural details with which the Sierra de Espadán gives us senses, you will get to know about one of its most prestigious inhabitants more closely: the cork oaks. Today they are the stars of one of the most sustainable uses of nature: cork harvesting. You will learn in detail the reasons for this scarce activity in the territory, which is producer of the best wine corks in Spain.

Aín, a beautiful village of Muslim origin whose toponym means “place of fountains”, will be the start of a spectacular route. From here, after crossing the town, you will follow the Barranc de la Caritat, full of riverside vegetation, and leave it to ascend the Barranc del Juncaret, a botanical jewel of the Natural Park that will remind you of what it is: a true rainforest that houses one of the most biodiverse ecosystems in the world. From the Peñas Blancas pass, you will begin the descent through a wild cork oak forest towards the Masía de la Mosquera, a landscape that cannot be described with words. After lunch and discovering the secrets of the ancient cork industry, you will continue along the track that runs through this landscape until crossing the Aín-Almedíjar road, which will lead you to the Almanzor ravine. You will walk through it, ascending gradually and being impressed by the lushness created by the enormous ferns and cork oaks until reaching the Íbola pass, from where you will begin the descent back towards Aín.

"Fuentes de Ayódar is a small town on the north-western border of the Sierra de Espadán Natural Park that has an amazing natural and cultural heritage centred on the numerous springs and fountains it is home to. The water will always be the star on the route we propose, firstly by walking through natural areas along the banks of the river and then following the course of the water towards ancient buildings that were designed to harness its power and its life. The Chico river and its paradisical Pozo Negro, the recently restored Molino de Arriba and its huge pond, the Chorricos fountain, the centenary mastic tree and the fountain of Santa Rita, irrigated and dry lands...
A series of short itineraries to and from the outskirts of the town will take us into an unrepeatable landscape where nature and culture go hand in hand"

The Sierra de Espadán is what biologists call “the Mediterranean rainforest”, one of the last cork oak forests of the Spanish Mare Nostrum. On this occasion we will go up from the Benitandús reservoir, a real lake of very clean and fresh water nestled between mountains, through a wild forest of cork oaks towards the spectacular landscape of the Órganos, a rocky formation of siliceous cliffs that will leave you speechless. Once there, you will enjoy lunch with our classic meal of local produce and then continue along an almost flat path through mixed forests of cork oaks and pines, visiting trenches of the Spanish Civil War, dry stone constructions and other points of cultural interest, before descending towards the Alcornocal ravine on the way to Benitandús. Impressive!

Take a romantic getaway with your partner to the town of Fuentes de Ayódar. Accommodation will be at Hotel Viñas Viejas, a small hotel located in the middle of nature, where you can breathe peace, calm and tranquillity, enjoying spectacular views of the Sierra de Espadán from its rooms. Its gastronomy based on local and seasonal produce will also satisfy the most exquisite palates, making this getaway the perfect way to discover Espadán-Mijares through the 5 senses.  Furthermore, close to the town is “El Pou Negre”, one of the most famous natural pools in the area where you can spend a fantastic and refreshing morning during the summer season. For the mountain lovers, there are also numerous hiking trails from Fuentes de Ayódar to get yourself lost in the Mediterranean forests of the Sierra de Espadán. 

Enjoy a refreshing weekend in the middle of nature. The municipality group of Espadán-Mijares is home to a large number of natural pools, from the crystal clear waters of the Mijares River. On this getaway, you will stay at Hotel Viñas Viejas, located in the town of Fuentes de Ayódar. In the vicinity of the town, you can find one of the most popular and renowned pools, “El Pou Negre”, you will have the opportunity to discover its waters and spend a day with company and friends, it will help you reconnect with the nature you’ve longed for. Moreover, just 7 kilometres away, you will find the natural pool of Ayódar, also known as Pozo de la Olla.