Hiking

In the region of the Jalón valley (the Marina Alta, the northernmost part of the province of Alicante) you can do fantastic walks at all sorts of different levels. Below we give suggestions for various walking routes. Where possible we also give tips on how and where you can combine them with a good meal. Naturally there are various (walking) maps in the villa as well.

On your first day you could, for instance, start with a quiet route straight from Alcalalí, to get used to the fine weather a little. But from other places nearby such as Lliber, Jalón, Tarbena and Murla you can do very nice and varied outings too. And even if you have visited the Marina Alta several times already, the varied landscape means there is always something new to discover!

From Alcalalí

To begin with (or on a lazy rest day) you can pick up the fine little view right by the villa. At the highest point in Solana Gardens, the Mirador Cocó del Garbell, you have a fine view over Alcalalí and the Jalón valley. You only have to walk a few hundred metres for it, and you have already banked the first 60 metres of climbing. Or you can take in the other viewpoints of Alcalalí straight away on the Ruta de los miradores.

The flat route from Alcalalí to Jalón (3 km)

• Away from the main road, between the almond trees, olive trees and vines. This route starts just south of Alcalalí, at the ‘viewpoint’ at the end of the Carrer Forn. There you follow a path that runs downhill, through the tall reeds, and cross the usually dry riverbed. Briefly uphill and then left towards Jalón. For the exact GPS route click here.
• With a small adjustment at the start this route is also suitable for pushchairs and bicycles; in that case you begin in Alcalalí west of the water reservoir, at the ‘Ecoparc’. Down the surfaced road from there, left once you are up, and you eventually join the route above.

Under the motto: ‘what exactly are we looking out at from the terrace?’

• From the villa you can walk to the Maserof area in 1.5 hours, through a sort of gorge (7 km, 250 hm, link). A small detour also takes you past the Ermita of Alcalalí. Once at the top you suddenly look into a completely different valley, with agricultural terraces. There you can, if you like, gather strength for the return journey with lunch at Casa Susi (see the Eating & Drinking page). On the way back you regularly look out over our house. (there & back 15 km, 340 hm link).
• A challenge is of course the ascent of the Col de Rates. That works very well from the villa (13 km, 480 hm). First a flat stretch, through the valley between the orange trees to Parcent. Then climbing to the Col from the north-west side, and descending again on the east side. This route takes you straight back to the villa, but you can of course also decide to have a drink in the village first…
• With the route above you have only been on the Col. But the ridge goes much further! An even bigger challenge is of course the real summit: Cim Carrascal. That is a good deal tougher, though; the second part of the climb in particular (after the spring) contains some steep sections. But if it is not too hot, and you take enough time, it is certainly worth it.
  • Usually you start this route from Parcent (13 km, 720 hm).
  • You can also walk it from Alcalalí if you wish (20 km, 830 hm).
  • There is also a shortened variant possible (10 km, 480 hm). Its disadvantage is that you start with a stretch on the surfaced road, but it does save you a lot of time and metres of climbing.

Tossal Gros (the summit above the villa)

The finest 360-degree view is right above the villa, on the summit of the Tossal Gros.*** But this is a serious walk, which calls for good footwear and a good sense of direction. After going up from the river, you cross the road and follow the marked green-and-white official route (left, past below the driveway). This route takes you through the woods, in a small loop past a centuries-old cave painting and the first fine views. You could turn round there and take the easy route back, but then you miss the real spectacle.

Although it is not an official path, you can certainly go further up to the summit of the Tosal Gros. First follow an existing path left around the rock, then turn right and scramble up a little through the terraces. It sometimes takes a moment to find the way here, but for the reasonably experienced walker it is quite doable with GPS and a sense of direction, because it is open country. No dense woodland here any more; so you are in the sun, but if you pick a day with a bit of wind in summer, it blows here the whole time to cool you down. In the end the big trees show you the way to the summit, where all the effort is repaid immediately.

If only every climb were rewarded this way! 🙂 Views from Cullera to Javea, the Bernia massif, the Col de Rates, the point of the Penyal Roig, the valleys of Jalón, Benigembla, Vall de Laguar and Orba, and a great deal more are to be seen here. The descent is an official path, but sometimes rather overgrown, so keep a close eye on the cairns here. You probably have to keep further left than you would intuitively think. Just before Alcalalí you get another fine view of the pass to Pedreguer, after which you come out on the asphalt again directly above Villa Arbolada. In short: straight from the villa, an outing of 6 km with 300 metres of climbing all the same.

• From Alcalalí you can also do a challenging outing, to the summit of the Solana (the ridge north of Jalón and Lliber). You then walk past behind Almazara (11 km, 350 hm). Here too, though, good footwear is required. Some walking experience can also come in handy, because here and there the dense vegetation makes following the paths a little harder.
• The slightly longer variant takes in the ruin of the Castel d’Aixa (14 km, 440 hm).

From other places in the Jalón valley and surroundings

Llíber and its hinterland

From Llíber and its hinterland you can walk various fine routes.

• This walk (9 km, 160 hm) first goes uphill on the asphalt, then down through the woods and on along the riverbed.
• On this one (10 km, 330 hm) to the Penya del Fred the climb is rather more serious and the sun rather more present, but the view is fine.
• Lliber – Valley views (10 km, 360 hm). With this walk you do not start in the village itself, but reach the starting point via a side road off the cv-748 to Gorgos. First there is a fair bit of climbing, but after that you really do get a very fine view (360 degrees) over the whole coastal region (Marina Alta) and the nearby valleys. ***
• Lliber – along the ridge via Penya del Fred (11 km, 460 hm). This walk combines both previous routes. The first part, the climb to the Penya la Fred, has a wide view in all directions but is heavily overgrown with shrubs. That makes it doable only with GPS, and really not suitable in shorts either. **
• Senija – Cave, Cross & Collado (9 km, 300 hm). Not too difficult, but a varied walk from Senija. First to the cave, then to the large cross on the mountain and then up and down through the Collado.

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Murla, Fontilles and Tormos

• From Murla to Fontilles: a varied outing between the orange trees, past the bull breeder, through the gorge and via a (dark) tunnel to the monastery complex of Fontilles (link) (13 km, 290 hm).
• The northern part of the route above also features in this walk to the Presa de Isbert (link) (10 km, 230 hm). This variant starts and ends among the oranges west of Tormos. This outing also goes through the dark tunnel (quite exciting for children) and past the bull farm.

Vall de Laguar (Campell, Fleix, Benimaurell)

• From Benimaurell you can walk up to the Collado de la Garga, after which you can walk along the ridge (7 km, 300 hm, sometimes scrambling over large rocks) with a fantastic 360-degree view. To the left lie the Vall de Laguar and Vall de Orba, to the right the Vall de Pop (Jalón valley). At the top you can also find a nice restaurant if you wish (La Venta del Collao, but note: you can only pay cash there).
• You can also park your car at La Venta del Collao and start the walk there. The advantage is then that you can also finish there around lunchtime (and fortunately that still applies at 15:00).

• From Fleix you can descend via the steps of the old mule track to the Baranc del Infern, and do a circuit that way (10 km, 440 hm). But although this really is a fine route, you do have to take the weather conditions carefully into account. In summer, when the sun is high, it is generally too hot in the gorge. And if it has just rained there can suddenly be water in the gorge. More annoying, though, is that the steep little path that leads you up out of the gorge is then too slippery, and therefore too dangerous. In short: this route is above all suitable during the dry days in spring, autumn or the winter months.
• If you are properly fit you can of course also do the tougher, official PR-CV147 variant of this 6000-step route (14 km, 720 hm). After the descent you then do not turn left through the gorge, but climb all the way back up on the other side. After that it is up and down twice more to get back to the inhabited world. I would not walk this variant in the middle of summer either.
• Quite different is this ‘Cherry walk’ (11 km, 380 hm) from Fleix. With this route you first descend towards Campell, then climb largely through the woods. That makes this route better suited to hot days: we walked it ourselves at the end of August. The descent from Benimaurell back to Fleix goes via yet another little path than the stepped routes above.

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Castel de Castels and Tarbena

• From Castel de Castels too you can go in various directions. A not too difficult option is the route to the Pla de Dalt (11 km, 310 hm).
• Around Tarbena the rugged landscape conjures up another fine view after every outing. We thought this double loop (10 km, 240 hm) was the finest. *** An extra bonus is that it combines well with a visit to one of the two authentic family restaurants: Can Pinet in the village or Ca’s Pelut just outside it, on the way back to the Col de Rates (see our page on Eating & Drinking).
• A shorter variant around Tarbena can be found here (6 km, 200 hm).

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Bernia, Maserof and Pinos

• Absolutely recommended too is the circuit around the Bernia massif (9 km, 440 hm). On the southern flank it can get very hot here in summer, though. So ideally start early, or plan it for spring or autumn. Completely ideal, of course, is combining this walk with a late lunch at Refugio Vista Bernia (see our page on Eating & Drinking).***
  NB: the time in Komoot is not right; count on 3.5 hours of walking excluding stops. On the north side the signal is sometimes poor, so download the route in advance. Make sure you have good footwear. In Dec/Jan the Refugio Vista Bernia is sometimes closed. You can also walk the route clockwise; you then begin with a steep climb, but the descent is less steep.
• Halfway along the route to the Bernia lies the Maserof area, to which a fine walk also runs from Jalón (9 km). Only 300 hm, a half-shaded climb through the woods at the start, followed by a relatively easy descent. Again plenty of view and variety for your metres of climbing. (For the Maserof route from Alcalalí, see above.)
• If you have already done the circuit around the Bernia but would still like another taste of the paella with a view and guitar music, you could also walk from the villa to the Refugio Vista Bernia (13 km, 500 hm one way). Should you find that too much after all, or have no lift back, simply take the bike, because that outing is really worth it too (see our page on Cycling).
• Between the Bernia and Benissa lies Pinos, where a number of fine routes can also be done (you can park at the restaurant). We ourselves walked this route along the ridge on the north side. Do let us know if you have walked more fine routes in this area!

From other places in the Marina Alta

• Circuit around the lake of Guadalest (11 km, 180 hm). Few metres of climbing, excellent to combine with a visit to the village of Guadalest. The village itself is very touristy, but worth a visit nonetheless. If you then want to get back to the real Spain for a while, this walk is a welcome change. Also perfectly suitable for children, with the possibility of a tapas pit stop at Bar L’Era in Beniarda.

Still to be worked out

• Penyal d’Ifach, the Calpe rock (link)
• Calpe, fairly flat circuit (link)
• Benissa Pedramala circuit (link)
• Denia, Cova Tallada (link)
• Bolulla (link)
• Pego-Oliva Wetlands (link)
• Aixorta circuit (link)
• Sella (link)
• Planes: way of the cross to the Ermita and Gorges del Salt (Barranco de l’Encantada).

Other links

• More routes in the Jalón valley can be found on the pages of the Vall de Pop Tourist Office. The ascent of the Coll de Rates is of course among them.
• Many more routes, including sorting by difficulty, nearest village and so on, can be found on this site by an enthusiastic local resident. I do not know to what extent it is still being updated, but the collection is impressive.
• In the region: Senderos de la Provincia de Alicante – Inicio
• Jalon Walking Routes – The best walking routes in Jalon, Valencia