If you already know Covadonga and then discover this place, you will be amazed at the aesthetic, mystical and historical parallels between this and a place in the Cangas Valley, where it is said that Don Pelayo began the war against Muslims, and that, at that time, he was known as Cave Dominica. There are those who consider this overwhelming space as the Covadonga Andaluza and, according to tradition, here appeared the Virgin of Tiscar, an image exalted after the fall of the Arab fortress in the 14th century. The building is less majestic than the Asturian, but the sacred cave...

The enclave must have been sacred already from remote times. Tradition speaks of an appearance in the Water Cave, which is actually a closed cannon and sculpted by the Tícar Arroyo. This tradition also tells that it was already venerated at a time when the Arabs kept a square they considered unexpugnable, just above the grotto. On the main floor of the fortress, the present abode of Our Lady, dating back to the 15th or 16th centuries, was erected with subsequent remodeling.

In front of the entrance to the hermitage there is a fountain with a poem by Antonio Machado, dedicated to the patron of Quesada. From the old fortin is the majestic tower of tribute, with the shield of arms of Peter I (11th century) embedded in the armchair and the walled enclosure of the courtyard of arms, riding on a neckline hardly accessible to Peña Negra, a spectacular vertical wall, frequented by the mountain goats, vultures and eagles. You can climb up to him, from the sanctuary, by a metal step.

The Cueva del Agua is set down by an asphalt lane that leaves from the same A-6206, about 300 m from the sanctuary, where you can access a few small parking spaces, from where you will leave stairs that go down to a narrow and under tunnel (you have to bend down to cross it) through which a waterfall takes the water to the traditional gardens nearby. Through artificial oquity, the road offers us several alternatives to visit this magical place. Here, on a small obscene on the wall of the cave, there is a small replica of the Virgin, where the devotees, considering that this is their first and true abode, place their offerings. It is recommended to wear shoes with non-slip soles and to take precautions, as the floor and stairs are sometimes slippery.

We suggest...

• Visit the birth of the Arroyo de Tíscar and the road of the Vadillo de Tíscar, very close to the sanctuary.

Tiscar is located at a crossroads of roads, right over the villages of Don Pedro and Belerda. The A-6206, also known as Tícar, which links Quesada with Hinojares and Pozo Alcón passes through a tunnel that crosses the rocky wall on which the Sanctuary and the Castle of Peña Negra are based and under which is the Cueva del Agua. This way Hinojares is 12 km, Quesada 15 km and Pozo Alcón 17 km. However, the nearest town is Huesa (10 km). From the same village a narrow local road is set up which, passing through Belerda, links with the previous one very close to the area.

While other castles can focus mainly on their medieval history, Cosmolarium offers a completely different experience for two reasons:

1. It offers an experience focused on astronomy and the universe
2. It values the incredible sky of the Sierra de Segura, Cazorla and the Villas, non-light pollution.

In short, its universe museum, planetary sessions, guided tours and night sky observation activities make it unique in the region.

Two are the points from which you get a good view of the Chorro:

• In front of the forest house comes a path that takes you to a lookout with a stone wall from which to serene observe the show that opens before your eyes. The white spots that are seen on the walls of this mole accuse the presence of vultures' nests, for they are only the stained of their excrements by being dragged through the waters.

• Following the track that has brought us to the Chorro and a few meters away you have to go down a path that comes to the right to the very abyss through a cast of sharp stones. You're on top of an impressive rosejo of vertical walls. With great caution you can look and get over the heights, views and flight of the many birds that live or go by in their constant search for food.

We suggest...

• Take binoculars to see the caves where the birds nest.

• Make use of the wooden observatory from where you will pass unnoticed for the birds that will fly and pose around you without complexes. At the entrance there is an information panel with the most common birds in the area. A good time to learn to identify them.

In the Iruela, from the City Hall square, the road rises towards the Riogazas hotel. It is known as the Chorro road. 12 km from the Iruela is the Chorro forest house on the left bank of the forest track.

Once we get to Central, we're already in the middle of the cornicabral. A mile earlier, from the Nidillo Strike, we will be accompanied by the cornicabra to our right on a very stony and pending slope. At the end of the route, in front of the bridge that crosses the Borosa River to access the central one, on the hillside that extends to our left after crossing the bridge, we will observe large trees, which look like oak trees, but if you look at us it will surprise us that they are large cornicabra. In the fall we are presented with a multitude of warm colors ranging from orange to dark red.

The cornicabral that we see is associated with little vegetation in its lowland, this is because the presence of cattle (wild or domestic ungulates) benefits the cornicabra, its outbreaks and spills of seed are very toxic and not appetizing to the cattle, so it is not easy to see other species accompanying the cornicabral, and more in areas frequented by the cattle. However, they are usually seen in oak (Quercus ilex ballota), arces de Montpelier (Acer mosnpessulanum), agracejos (Phillyrea latifolia), sabinas (Juniperus phoenicea), lentisco (Pistacia lenticus), rosemos (Rosmarinus officinalis), torvizcos (Daphne gnidium), esamujos (Rosa ssp.) and among herbaceas we highlight the peony or rose of mountain (Paeonia broteroi), as well as in the gradivos (Rachos), as in the gradivázos, as in the gradivánas in the gracos (Rachos, as in the gradius, as in the gradivás, as in the gradivázos, as in the gracos (Rachos), as in the gradius, as in the gradivávás, as in the gradius in the gracas in the gracos, as in the (Poa bulbosa, Agrostis ssp., Cynosurus echinatus, Aegilops geniculata, Arrhenatherum elatinus, etc.).

The name of the cornicabra is due to the protuberances in the form of goat horn so characteristic in leaves and stems, which are gills produced by the bite of an insect, which uses them as food for its larvae.

We suggest:

• The cornicabral are present in others in many mountains and more or less stony slopes of the Park, as in this type of environment it is where the cornicabra (Pistacia terebinthus) finds its habitat. Extensive cornicabral can be seen on the slopes of the Zumeta River, near the Ticiano Sale, in the gutters of Peña Corba (Las Villas), on the slopes of the Yelmo Chico, in the Cerrada del Utrero, etc.

Route of the Borosa, from the place known as La Central. To reach the cornicabral we must remount the Borosa River along the track that passes to its vera, and that ends up in a hydroelectric power plant. We take it on the farm of Borosa, a well-known place. We have 8 km ahead of us, but they don't have much slope and can be done easily, and we go all the way through the Borosa River, which is one of the most spectacular and popular routes of the Park.

Discovered in 1992. It currently reaches a total of 5.117 m of development with important prospects for exploring new galleries. This very important complex is located in the vicinity of the Pantano de la Bolera, in the Barrio known by Arroyo de la Rambla, the two mouths of access are opened in the municipal term Peal de Becerro (Jaén) and much of the cavity is developed under the term Cazorla (Jaén). Along with this large complex, several more cavities have been located that have not been able to communicate to date (PB-1, PB-2, PB-5, PB-7), which were certainly part of it at the time, and these cavities are currently being explored.

The main entrance, of small dimensions, provides access to a floor room that is damaged by the blocks that cover it, ceilings between two and four meters high and spacious, allowing to accommodate several dozen people. At the bottom, between blocks, the sinuous continuation is opened. Close steps and several descending highlights lead almost to the level of the ravine, and it is often found flooded. The water input is done through the PB-6 sink. A narrow corridor with clay-covered floor, followed by several climates, leads again to the level of the entrance room, out of reach of the waters. The transit through them is balized, to try to mitigate as much as possible the alteration of the floor, after the steps to be followed you have to climb to a top floor with the help of a small staircase of about 10 m.

This apartment is characterized by a succession of steps between blocks that once stranded back down to the level of the gallery. From this point the continuation is more problematic, as the succession of ramps, steps between blocks, des climes, etc. make their description very monotonous. The second staircase opens a large room and an almost horizontal corridor of about 100 meters with the floor covered with gours and ceilings with large stalactic blankets, flags, etc. We meet about 700 meters from the mouth. A new drop to a siphon (usually dry) allows the passage, also between blocks, rips, and narrow steps of about 300 meters of very accidental gallery that leads to the final room or the siphon. Large room with different possibilities of continuation.

The 60-meter-long siphon with a penetrable gap to 6 meters under water leads to a descending gallery that connects with a large cavity, circulated by an active river that spills its waters in the Valentine's Source (PB-1 and PB-5). Currently in exploration of spelologists. This succession of rooms is beautifully decorated by spelotems in various ways, among which are predominantly ceilings covered with stalactite stylized.

About a hundred meters from the mouth, a new succession of weeds return us to the theoretical level of water, changing the morphology of the cavity strongly. After several stretches and decreases the dimensions of the gallery increase. In this area the two possible entries to the Network of the Talegas are located (flooded sectors, Red Gallery, Sala Alicia, etc.). Continuing through the main gallery you can reach the Paso Javi, a small laminator that cuts a rock barrier (this step is very common to find it flooded), if it is under the waters, the pass is carried out by a strong ramp to the right of the pass, followed by a vertical - easy to overdo - descent that goes down to the level of the main gallery, after the Paso Javi. The continuation is obvious, just follow the gallery, yes, with some other narrowing and passage between blocks, until you reach the gallery of the Levels, easy to recognize by the calcite sidewalks that go through all the walls, blocks and other speleotems.

From here a new rebound between blocks and slices lead to the header of some scarves. A few meters before reaching them and on the left wall, several narrow steps are opened, between blocks, which reach the base of these scarves. It is entering the Cebra Gallery, thus called by the successive levels of floating calcite that have been fixed on the clay walls; corresponding to different flood stadiums.

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

The museum offers us a tour of different aspects of traditional life, such as the stays of the serrana house, the rural school, the barbershop, the old inn, the stable and the trades related to the forest. There is also a small shop for crafts and food.

The small and isolated valley of Los Anchos, surrounded by mountains, is of an overwhelming beauty, especially in the autumn, when the wings of the stream become yellow.

The village of Los Anchos is one of the best preserved in the Natural Park. Very close to it there are two others around which you have to take a walk, which are those of Prado Maguillo and La Cañada del Saucar. From this last part a senderist route marked PR-A 196, which goes up to the Calar del Cobo, specifically to the Puntal of the Mass, one of the best viewpoints of the Natural Park. In Prado Maguillo there are also signposted trails.

Location: To the north of the city centre, very close to it, in the natural park of Cazorla, Segura and Las Villas.

Distance: 2 km. Medium: On foot.

Access route: Through a rural road leading to the dehesa del Castillo.

Benatae is the smallest municipality in the Sierra de Segura and is fully included in the Natural Park of the Sierras de Cazorla, Segura and Las Villas, so it is a perfect place for lovers of tranquility and nature.

The Cerro de San Miguel is located 1.5 kilometres east of the city centre of Benatae, in the direction of Puente Honda.

The Cerro de San Miguel is a recreational area with excellent views of the park. On one of its slopes, a source that gives origin to its name, one of the many water sources that spatter the municipality, stands out.

The recreational area has several tables and its corresponding banks, barbecues, the pillar and a large explanade.

In the recreational area you can see the vegetation and fauna typical of the Natural Park and from where you can observe excellent landscapes.

On the hill dominates the black pine pine pineapple, under which grows a stinking little forest with juniper, lentif, jars and crocodile. The fox, boar and squirrel are very abundant, and it is possible to contemplate mountain goats at the summit. Among the raptures are the pilgrim hawk, the seedling eagle and the leonate vulture.

From the Cerro de San Miguel you can take hiking routes, not so, in the recreational area we find the panel of beginning of the path (PR-A 179) to the summit of Peñalta (1,412 m.).

To the north of the term, there is a mountain, the fourth of Ardal, in which the oaks predominate, along with the retama, the albar thorn, wild rosals, juniper, ivy and madreselva. An ideal ground for the cicnetic species of major hunting (boar, deer, corzo...), and also of pastures, especially for the cattle of ligia.

This bridge was built when, in the sixty of the last century, the repressive waters buried the Molinillo Bridge, which passed through the Guadalanimin a little below, and which allowed, from time immemorial, the access of reels to a road that unites the inhabitants of the scattered cores in the upper part of the Sierra (Nava de San Pedro, Puntal de Ana María, la Loma de la Sarga, Vadillo de Castril, etc.) with El Almicarán and Pozo Alcón. Much of the wheat that was sown in that mountainous area became a flour mill that was at the confluence of the Guazalamanco River with the Guadalanimin, very close to the said bridge, and that gave name to the site.

This historic road, which progress was responsible for truncating more than forty years ago, is already collected in the medieval chronicles. It was also the way to the Mesta, where the cattle of Pozo Alcón and Castril were led to the winter of Sierra Morena, with a softer and more prone climate for sheep and cows. The journey that communicates the reservoir with the Vado de las Carretas, near the Nava de San Pedro is via pecuaria and, officially, receives the illustrative name "Cordel de Visas Pintoresca." The first stretch of this journey, which passes through the cortijo de los Tontos, forest house of the Puntal de Ana María and cortijo del Raso del Peral (the highest point of the road at about 1,320 m of altitude) is known as Cañada del Mesto, and is a pleasant walk (about 8 km away and back from where we have left the vehicle) that will surprise us by the natural viewpoints we find on the route (Cortijo de los Tontos, Puntal de Ana María and the Poyo del Raso) and the views that give us. If we continue about 5 K. further forward we find the Vado de las Carretas and the Cerradas del Guadalentín and Canaliega.

We suggest...

• That before we take the road on foot that leads us to the Cerrada de la Herradura, in the vicinity of the Molinillo Forest House, we lie, with the maximum of precautions, to the edges of the cut that give view to the reservoir and to the final stretch of the Guazalamanco River, before we connect with the Guadalmin. If the level of the reservoir is low we can see the old Molinillo bridge and what's left of the small old flour factory. In that case, a recommended option is that, through a sidewalk that leaves east of the forest house, just in front of the large bridge, we go down to the river bank and approach the mill. There are still remains of the old systems used for the milling of wheat.

The Cerrada de la Herradura is located in the tail of the Bolera reservoir and is accessed by the Dehesa del Rincón, a large entrelano located on the right bank of that reservoir. From Pozo Alcón you have to take the A-326, up the Avenida de la Bolera, direction to Castril. By passing the campsite de la Bolera and the km 7, we take a detour that comes to our left and that borders the Forest House of la Bolera (it indicates to the Hornico). On an unasphalted road, always following the main road, you reach the Molinillo Forest House, now apricot of cattle, 7.7 Km. later. There we left the vehicle and followed the path of the route that indicates the Road Vado. About 800 meters later a narrow bridge crosses a riverbed. We meet at the Herradura Clock. If we continue the road, until it begins to descend again, 3.5 Km. later, we will make the journey known as Cañada del Mesto.