This trail programme runs through the Natural Park of Cabo de Gata-Nijar. It combines routes along the coastline with riding through valleys further inland where you can find beautiful scenery and small, unknown villages.
7 nights, 6 days riding, 5-6 hours per day.
Preliminary day-by-day program
Day 1. Arrival. You will meet your guide and horses and learn about the route you will undertake over the next few days. Dinner and overnight in the hotel el Sotillo or Dña Pakita http://www.playasycortijos.com/hotel-cortijo-el-sotillo/
Day. 2. SAN JOSÉ - GENOVESES BEACH - SAN JOSÉ
Genoveses, Monsul, Media Luna, el arrecife de las sirenas (the reef sirens) are undoubtedly the last virgin beaches of the Mediterranean which, with their white sand dunes, have
served as a film set for films that we will skip to the eyes immediately just by seeing them: Indiana Jones, Lawrence of Arabia, For a Fistful of Dollars. For lunch, we will have a picnic at the foot of the cortijo “El romeral”, one of the typical facilities that served, it was a time, housing for farmers in the area. The afternoon, we will go up through the valley “del tesorillo”. Dinner and accommodation at the hotel http://www.playasycortijos.com/hotel-cortijo-el-sotillo/
Day 3. SAN JOSÉ - RODALQUILAR
To the north of the park are the mountains of the Sierra de Gata which have preserved the boilers of ancient volcanoes, surrounded by a lunar landscape and original villages such as "los Albaricoques" where several scenarios of spaguetti western were shot: For a Handful of Dollars, The Good, the Bad and the Ugly, etc ...streets have names such as: Clint Eastwood, Sergio Leones…Lunch at one of the park's most special sites, “el cortijo del Fraile ”. This is where the events took place that inspired Federico Garcia for his work “Bodas de Sangre” (Marriage of Blood). Picnic lunch.
Night at the Hotel www.oroyluz.com or similar.
Day 4. RODALQUILAR - EL PLAYAZO - CALA DEL CUERVO
In the morning, after breakfast, allocation of horses and career adaptation before starting the hike: We start the hike living up to its name. For the first day of hiking, we will visit the eastern part of the Natural Park In this part of the hike, we we will head towards "the torre de los lobos" (the tower of the wolves) where we will be able to almost contemplate the whole natural park and if the weather is clear, snow-capped Sierra Nevada. We will ride to the popular beach of "el playazo", popular since the Roman presence, which is why it has
received several visits from pirates, we will pass through an oasis of palm trees that were created by small water sources. Picnic by the sea, “cala del cuervo ¨ Night at the Hotel www.oroyluz.com or similar
Day 5. RODALQUILAR - GOLD MINE - RODALQUILAR
We will take the old gold mine trail, we will pass through small ravines that were once the only one Connection between farms in the mountains and the sea, we cross the crater of the volcano which now forms the Rodalquilar Valley, we will discover the mineral walls that still hide the rest of the gold today and finally, we will visit the old mine installations which were in operation since 1933 y which finally closed went into 1986. Picnic in ¨ CORTIJO MONTANO ¨
Dinner and night in a hotel www.oroyluz.com
Day 6. RODALQUILAR- LAS NEGRAS -RODALQUILAR
Las Negras is a beautiful place, of spectacular geology in an atmosphere of fishermen. At the end of its bay is El Cerro Negro (The Black Hill), a impressive rock formation, which looks like a tongue of lava, witness to what was the Natural Park of Cabo de Gata. In Las Negras you will find orchards irrigated by water which comes from small freshwater flows from the Rambla de las Agüillas and accumulated in small ponds near the sea. Paella lunch in a restaurant near the sea. For lunch, a delicious paella in a restaurant near the sea, then a free afternoon with the possibility of enjoying the spa at the Hotel Naturaleza (previous reservation required). Night at the hotel www.oroyluz.com
Day 7. RODALQUILAR -LA ISLETA DEL MORO- SAN JOSÉ
We will leave Rodalquilar by a large path that borders the entire the coast. These trails were once used to monitor the coasts in pirate attack, which explains the presence of small
castles and watch towers. With its little oasis of palm trees, we will have lunch in the form of a picnic on the beach of escullos. Dinner and overnight at San José Hotel el sotillo or similar.
Day 8. Breakfast and departure.
