The Guadiana Menor is a very young river from the geological point of view. Until about 10,000 years ago, its basin was a large salty lake, to which it provided its waters and sediments numerous streams from Sierra Nevada, Filabres and the Macizo de Cazorla and Segura. Its current course arose in an accidental and violent way, perhaps due to the breaking of one of the margins of the lake produced by an earthquake, excavating deep ravines, leaving out the yermas clays, loaded with plaster and salts, rolling edges and marine sands, a means that makes it difficult to survive the living beings that inhabit them.

The depression that bears its name from this river is the most arid area in the province and one of the driest in Europe, recording annual rainfall that very rarely exceeds 250 mm. The consequence is that of a semidesertic, rotational and beautiful landscape, populated by highly specialized Stepparian vegetables to the middle, most herbs and small matas. Its biological uniqueness is enormous, having an endemic character (very small geographical area) more than half of the species present in the area. This proportion is only comparable to the biological exclusivity of the high betic mountain, where we find most of the most well-known endemisms in the Natural Park.

We suggest...

• Make the Desert Route, described in the Tourist Guide of Hinojares.

• Visit the Mirador del Lirio, with stunning views of the valley and the desert of the Natural Park. It is accessed (it is signposted) from the village of Fontanar, which is located about 5 Km from Pozo Alcón.

• Other unique points of this recommended visit are the necropolis ibera de los Castellones de Ceal, next to the village of Ceal, and the Salinilla de Chillar, located very close to Hinojares.

To visit the Picos del Guadiana and to visit the subdesert area of the Natural Park that corresponds to the Valle del Guadiana Menor, we will use the road section of the A-315 that links Bone with Pozo Alcón and Hinojares. The view of the Picos is at the beginning of these, in an enranche of the previous way, about 14 km from Hinojares and 19 km from Pozo Alcón.

We are located in the subdesert area near the Natural Park Sierras de Cazorla, Segura and Las Villas. The geoforms of the valley of the Minor Guadiana, originating from the slow and inexorable erosive processes, are extremely striking. An enclave of great geomorphological interest, proposed as a natural monument: the Picos del Guadiana, stands out. It is a limestone crest where the petreous strata, arranged vertically, emerge from a cone of soft clays, forming a rocky alignment that resembles the teeth of a saw. The Guadiana Menor is a very young river from the geological point of view. The depression that bears its name is the driest area in the province and one of the driest in Europe, recording annual rainfall that very rarely exceeds 250 mm. Its biological uniqueness is enormous, having an endemic character (very small geographical area) more than half of the species present in the area.

Location: To the south of the town, in the natural park of Cazorla, Segura and Las Villas.

Distance: 16 km

Medium: In vehicle tourism and on foot.

Access route: By the A-319 in the direction of La Iruela; at this point, after 13 km, we will take the Chorro road, then diverting by a horseshoe road leading to the Port of Tejo.

When you reach the port of Giillo, you leave the path to turn right and climb to the rocky top of the same name, spectacular atalaya with beautiful views in all directions. The fall is made to the port of Giillo, and we will have to pass through an old, ruined shelter where a path of descent begins, this one passes through the Loma de Los Castellones, with beautiful views of the Calar de Juana and the Cabañas, as well as a spectacular sincerity that remains to our left, soon we arrive to the Laguna de Cazorla, a great dolina where we will take a beautiful horseshoe path that is headed towards the Port of Tejo. From here on, a beautiful fall begins on the path of masonry passing under the Banderín and the Cejo de la Mora, with beautiful views towards Los Castellones and Giillo, until reaching the ruins of the Forest House of Prado Redondo, beautiful corner with a fountain.

Information and Comments:

• The kiosco-bar is temporarily closed until further notice, by works of improvement in the installation.
• The barbecues area can only be used when Environment gives the order that there is no danger of fire.

Since then, local associations and municipalities have begun to promote this interesting heritage. In 1999, because of the uniqueness, abundance and quality of this industrial mining landscape, heritage experts described the area in the British press as "the best kept secret in Europe" (Europe's best kept secret).

In the entire mining region, there are remains of high interest industrial archaeology, some unique examples in the world. This scattered set of buildings, railway stations, machine houses, chimneys, cabries and roads explain the history of one of the areas of southern Europe in which the Industrial Revolution took place, where English, Belgian, French and Spanish communities lived together. This combination of history and the use of natural resources is an excellent pretext for visiting the landscape of the chimneys, the landscape that welcomes visitors who arrive in Andalusia from the north.

The park is located in a public square in the centre of the city centre, with urban facilities and furniture dating back to the 1980s and which were old and in disuse. "It is a comprehensive project that will remodel this Freedom Park, which is almost 40 years old and has an image of deterioration," he adds. In this first phase, the entire infrastructure of supply, sanitation and public lighting is being changed. This performance will continue in a second phase in which all the urban furniture will be completed, consisting of banks running around the alcorques and the children's playground, as well as the covering of the fountain and the decorative lighting of the whole.

Location: In the area of the same name, very close to the city centre.
Distance: 1.4 km
Medium: By vehicle tourism or on foot.
Access route:: A rural road that leaves the town directly