The stratigraphic section of Cabañas is a mandatory reference of the Jurassic to Cretaceous transit in the Prebetic Zone. The materials that apflorate are essentially carbonates, in which the tidal levels stand out with marked cyclicity and magnificent examples of surfaces with drying cracks.

Reef faces, levels of accumulation of ferruginous oils, and limestones with spectacular sedimentary structures caused by traction currents are also observed. In addition to the section itself, the panorama contains an example of angular discord between the Jurassic materials and various Cretaceous terms of high paleogeographic interest.

Source: Inventory of Georresources of Andalusia. Environmental Council. Junta de Andalusia.

The canyon of the Guadalanimín River is a river form generated by the fitting of the Guadalanimin River in the dolomies of the upper Cretaceous of the Sierra del Pozo. This river also takes advantage of a fracture of medium direction N-S. The formation of this morphology has therefore involved river, karctic and tectonic processes.

Source: Inventory of Georresources of Andalusia. Environmental Council. Junta de Andalusia.

Its landscape is an exponent of karmic modeling. No one can say that he knows the Park in depth if he has not traveled the overwhelming plains of the Campos. The high mountain grazing is here the real protagonist; an activity that has, for centuries, allowed life in these remote territories, the homeland of the Segurean sheep.

They say that in Los Campos solitude is felt. There are no fewer people here than in the wooded areas of the Park, because it is common to find some shepherd. What happens is that the clear breadth that our eyes perceive makes us more aware of our small than in dense forest areas.

The real beginning of the Hernán Perea Campos is about 11 km from Don Domingo, after having passed the Cañada Hermosa shelter, first of the three shelters that support the mountaineers on this route. They were built by the ICONA in the 1970s and are located next to the main road, which is surrounded by light depressions, dolins and sour rocky cords of limestone origin.

The harsh weather conditions have created a very adapted vegetation of piorns, albar thorn and common juniper (rake). We will also find some sown pieces of cereal, and of course many herbaceous plants from which the livestock is fed.

If we make the way in winter, with the snow covering its unique orography, we have the feeling of crossing an Arctic landscape. We must be very well informed of the weather, because a strong snow can put us in serious trouble. Spring is the best time to visit the Campos, when conditions are less demanding, although a good advice for any time is not to abandon at any time the main road that crosses the altiplanicie from north to south.

We suggest:

• About 3.5 km from Don Domingo is the famous Pino Galapán, a 39-metre-high larix pine specimen in the area. A respectful visit to this "giant" in the Segura saw is required.

• Rapist birds fly this place majestically throughout the year. The prismatics will be of great use to you to try to distinguish the royal eagle, the leonate vulture or... maybe the broken bones? The muflons are very abundant.
  
• We must not forget that the beauty and grandiosity of the Campos is a major danger in certain times of the year. Winter, which here covers almost all autumn and part of spring, can be surprised by huge snowfalls that may eventually catch visitors, or leave them without the few visual references in the altiplanicie. In any case, in order to travel through these sites, you always have to use all-terrain vehicles, at least two cars, to provide support, as there is no telephone coverage. It is not advisable to stay in the winter months or in the twilight or night hours, and always to let third parties know that the tour begins.

From Santiago de la Espada we take the A-317 towards La Puebla de Don Fadrique. At 2.1 km, on the right, we find the JF-7091 road to La Matea. We take this road and follow it to the village of Don Domingo. The forest track towards Rambla Seca leads us to the fields of Hernán Perea.

The fields of Hernán Perea make up the most extensive altiplanicie in Spain. They have an average altitude of between 1,600 and 1,700 metres and an area of more than 5,000 hectares. This vast altiplano represents one of the largest and most original landscapes of the Natural Park Sierras de Cazorla, Segura and Las Villas, very different from all others. The harsh weather conditions have created a very adapted vegetation of piorns, albar thorn and common juniper (rake). Rapist birds fly this place majestically throughout the year. The prismatics will be of great use to us in trying to distinguish the royal eagle, the leonate vulture or... maybe the broken bones? The muflons are very abundant. About 3.5 km. From the village of Don Domingo is the famous Pino Galapán, a 39-metre-high larix pine specimen in the area. A visit to this botanical "giant" is required.

In the westernmost part of the Cazorla saw, tectonic scales of Cazorla and del Chorro, the Oxfordiense is also represented by nodular and rhythmic margoso- calcareas, by sponge and stromatolite bioconstructions, some of which perfectly retain the depository morphology, giving reliefs in the form of mounds ("mounds") made up of sponges and, most of them, of which are stromatolites. The spongiaries, siliceous sponges epigenized to calcite, appear mainly in the lower part of the bioherm, at first disorganized and fragmented and then adapted to different surfaces.

The stromatolites, on the other hand, constitute the majority of the bioconstructed body, and begin to be planar and then move to centrimetric columnar forms that together give cupolas of almost half a metre in diameter. Some of these depository morphologies can be observed on the slope of the road that from Cazorla leads to the Chorro, where this point of geological interest is located. These deposits culminate the depository sequence of the Oxfordiense in the saw of Cazorla, which is a sequence of deepening, in response to the oxfordiense transgression that caused the disappearance of the platform of the Lïas-Dogger, whose deposits are crowned by a "hardground" on which the Oxfordiense sequence is available. This sequence, in turn, is overtaken by another of lower Kimmeridgian age with which again the somerization that will culminate the Jurassic cycle begins.

Source: Inventory of Georresources of Andalusia. Environmental Council. Junta de Andalusia.

Since 2003, it has held a cattle fair in August, which had historically been one of the largest in the province of Jaén.

Many are the places where we can see a good forest in the gallery, both in the Segura River Valley and in the Guadalquivir Valley. The one we have chosen is on the upper stretch of the Segura River, in its way through the charming village of La Toba.

This defines the forests that accompany the rivers. Its components change along the river, from its birth to its mouth. The section we will see in the mountain areas of the Park corresponds to the sections of the high basin.

The forest we visit is made up of choperas (Populus nigra and Populus x canadensis), strawberries (Fraxinus angustifolia), saucedas formed by several willows (Salix eleagnos angustifolia, S. purpurea, S. atrcinerea and S. fragilis), zarzales (Rubus ulmifolius), and herbaceous formations of junches, molinies and cardics (Scripus holoschoenu, Juncus inflexius, Molinia caulea and Carpenex). We can also observe orchids such as daztilorrizas (Daztilorhiza elata) among these junkals.

Any time of the year is good for walking through this forest, with the most recommended autumn for its colors and the advanced spring for the great green nuance it presents and for the flowering of the orchids that populate it.

LOCATION

In the short detour that goes to the village of La Toba, as we pass the bridge over the Segura River, we park and we can enjoy directly a splendid riverside forest.