Adventure!
TREKKING DAY
Monarch Butterfly Trail
trail of
Distance: 10.68km
Total time: 3h 53 min.
Positive slope: 77m
Maximum altitude: 87m
Circle Route
TREKKING ROUTE - 1 DAY
THE MONARCH BUTTERFLY
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To follow the path and leave from the La Gloria farm, we must go to the starting point 23 minutes by car along the CA-8200 road, to the northwest and then along the A-405 and CA-5181 to Venta de La Cantina on the Almoraima road, in the municipality of Pueblo Nuevo de Castellar de la Frontera.
Here we park our car and right behind the sale, we started the trail.
The route begins by descending from the road behind the inn to the Guadarranque River.
The Guadarranque River, from the Arabic, Wadi-Ramke, river of the mares, with a length of about 43 km, rises in the Finca Buenas Noches, in the municipality of Jimena de la Frontera, in the heart of the Alcornocales Natural Park, and, after crossing a large reservoir, it reaches this area between the sandstone mountains and the river plain.
We covered this entire part of the path walking along the river through a large riverside forest, surrounded by alders, ash trees, gall oaks and white poplars.
You will also be able to see some Clathrus archeri mushrooms, rare in the area with a very striking strong orange color, all the more so for their stinky smell.
Throughout the tour we can see a large number of monarch butterflies, as if wanting to justify the name of the trail, the occasional large turtle, mallard ducks and hopefully a deer in one of the open spaces along the trail.
The monarch butterfly (Danaus Plexippus), one of the largest and most beautiful butterflies that we can observe in our environment, is especially known for its great migration of thousands of kilometers in North America to winter in a small place in Mexico, where they can concentrate million individuals.
Its only populations on the European continent are found in the area of the Strait of Gibraltar, whose existence has been recently documented, since 1994.
Finally we arrive at the Jarandilla bridge, where this trail ends. We cross this bridge and turning to the right, we ascend until we reach the road.
For lovers of hiking, we inform you that from here you can continue in various directions: one of them is to climb the Castle of Castellar, through the Calzada Romana; another is to cross the Jarandilla bridge and head towards the Cerro de la Casa del Moro; the third option is to cross the Puente de la Jarandilla and head towards Los Riscos de los Bazanes; a fourth alternative is to continue towards El Cañuelo and Dehesa Boyal; and, finally, another option is to return by the old road, first, and by the current road, later, which goes from Venta la Jarandilla to Venta de la Cantina, approximately 6 km. The latter was what we did.
You can start your way back along an old road, surrounded by many trees, especially eucalyptus trees; passing through a security zone; crossing below the CA-P-5231 road and later connecting with it.
You walk along the asphalt, always on the left shoulder, enjoying the Finca de la Almoraima. To the left, you can see a large gate that gives way to a channeling area for the Guadarranque River; we pass by the vicinity of the Casa Convento and, on our right, we pass the Almoraima Forest Fire Reinforcement Brigade (BRIF-A), including a helicopter. Until you get to the vehicles.
The assessment that each person makes of a route after completing it is very subjective, since it depends on many factors: age, physical preparation, technical preparation, required equipment, terrain characteristics, weather conditions, etc.; therefore, it is necessary that we state that what is described in this story and the parameters that appear in it (time, distance, degree of difficulty, GPS tracks and waypoints) are merely informative / indicative and, therefore, it is under the responsibility of those who want to carry it out take the appropriate measures.
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