Walk near La Almunia

Hike to Cortijo Barranco del Lobo is perfect for one of those afternoons, when being at the Hotel, we want to take a walk through nature and delight ourselves with the golden light of the afternoon sun.

Duration: 1 hour and 45 minutes approx.

Distance: 6.1 km.

Difficulty: easy

Minimum and Maximum altitude: 878m / 1083m.

We start leaving the Hotel taking the Camino de La Umbría, to the right. Following the lane and indication to Cerro Huenes (1798m), which we will see just in front of us (1).

At the next fork, we continue along the center lane, ascending. And at the next intersection, we will take the lane on the left, between the farmhouses. We will arrive at a fork where we will take the path to our right that, ascending slightly, is indicated on the wooden post in the direction of Fuente Fría (2)

The path, easy to follow but also stony, will show you some great views of the pine forests on the slopes of Cerro Huenes to our left and gentle hills with olive fields to the right (3). Moving forward, we will see that the path leads to a lane that we will continue straight on, leaving the one that returns to our right.
Behind and in the background we leave the valley of La Umbría, La Solana, and the silhouette of neighboring mountains.

At about 200 meters we will find a metal door that we will round on the right side since the door cannot be opened, and we will continue on the road, straight ahead. The one on the left is prohibited from being privately owned.

Always continuing along the main path, we will leave other paths on our right twice and head towards a dog shelter, passing next to its door. We should not worry if the dogs bark at us when they notice our presence, we continue on our way without paying attention to them. This shelter, not a kennel, is run by a Belgian association that takes care of them and tries to find them a home.

Without leaving the main lane, we will leave a path to the right and then another to the left, in a gentle ascent. When we begin to descend, the best views of the walk will make their way. Between the end of February and March, we can also enjoy the flowering of the almond trees on our left. Once past the highest point of the route, we will arrive at the ruins of the Cortijo del Barranco del Lobo (4).

Named like this, probably because of the ancient existence of wolves in the area. In the Middle Ages, there were many wolves in Sierra Nevada. In years of heavy snow, they would go down to La Vega to feed on cattle. Therefore, they were indiscriminately eliminated. Due to its extermination and the disappearance of herbivores such as deer, fallow deer, roe deer due to the deforestation of the territory, the wolf disappeared from these mountains. The last one was seen in 1933, a solitary specimen.

We will enter on the left side of the farmhouse, entering its land, until we reach the edge, where we will see a steep descent path (5).
The Barranco de Lobo will be on our left, with some beehives on the bottom right. (we recommend not approaching and passing quickly so as not to disturb the bees), and another farmhouse to which we must go following the path. The track will take us, surrounding the mountain, back to the dog shelter, always following the two forks that we will find, to the right.

And returning our steps, we will go back to La Almunia del Valle. After a little rest and refreshment, we will be able to enjoy a wonderful dinner with views of the valley.