Sierra Aracena is full of wonders! The well-preserved natural resources are an important part of the social life and the economy in the white villages. Enjoy some days walking through its diversity of landscapes and get even more enthusiastic as you learn more about it. You will appreciate its rich gastronomy with the Iberian black pig ham and meat, local cheese… Its cultural heritage make us travelling back in time too with monuments classified by UNESCO and forms part of a genuine route. No detail is missing to enjoy a wonderful walking holidays!

The most important hiking trail network in Europe, the best ham you ever tasted, a pleasant rural life with sustainable development. From Cortegana to Aracena, we can propose you many hiking trips going through white villages with rich cultural heritage (classified by UNESCO) well conserved and telling us all the history of these places… Walking between orchards, wood pasture of cork tree or holm oak where Iberian black pigs wander around to give us the best hams, or going along nice riverbanks where you might surprise kingfishers, dippers… or even otters.

If you wish, we can propose you a wide variety of hikes through Aracena Natural Park to organise your time in Andalucía during few days or a week … Here is a proposition as an example, but of course we will be happy to make up a personalized holiday plan for you and eventually mix hiking activities through Aracena Natural Park with other trips you might like from our web!

Day 1: Cortegana – Almonaster. Length: 8,9 Km / 5,53 mi, Highest point: 907 m / 2975,72 ft, Ascent: 321 m / 1.053,15 ft, Difficulty: moderate to hard

Almonaster La Real and its Mosque controlling impassively the advance of time. This is a thousand-year-old town with a wide architectural heritage that deserves its declaration as a historic-artistic complex. The walk from and to Almonaster goes through lovely farms and hills where the exuberant vegetation provides shade from village to village.

Day 2: Almonaster la Real- Santa Ana la Real- Alajar. Length:16,5 Km / 10,25 mi, Highest point: 655 m / 2182 ft, Ascent: 300 m / 984,25 ft, Difficulty: moderate

Like peddlers, we walk from town to village and village to town bringing tales and stories about our walk and local people with us. Going down along the riverbanks where the water always sings and invite birds to perform as well, or climbing up through forest, wood pasture of cork tree, holm oak or olive trees, and orchards as we get closer to villages. The trail well conserved in general is getting into the art of the sierra as far as Álajar, one of the most active and animated town of Aracena Sierra. On the way, we will be keen to see how cultural heritage is preserved with for example traditional lime kilns formerly used to make the white paint for houses.

Day 3: Circular walk of Alajar. Length: 15,8 Km / 9,8 mi, Highest point: 750 m / 2.460,6 ft, Ascent: 236 m / 774,3 ft, Difficulty: easy

Walk along the gorge, a dramatic landscape where traditional cork tree wood pasture alternate with pines plantations on the steeper slopes. Restored watermills melt into this landscape where the water flows and where donkeys keep being the best way to carry and load any goods toward villages and town.

Day 4: Alajar – Castano del Robledo – Galaroza. Length: 9,8 Km / mi, Highest point: 863 m / 2.831,3 ft, Ascent: 240 m / 787,4 ft, Difficulty: moderate

Álajar, which means rock in Arabic, lays at the bottom of a rocky cliff where some of the first settlers might have lived in caves. The special energy on its top made it a pilgrimage site where a little white church is standing up and water sources getting out of earth to give us a clear clean fresh water. Called la Peña de Arias Montano, this site gives up an overview on the valley before the trail leads us to one of the most animated village and the chestnut forest. Then we reach one of the highest town of Aracena Sierra, Castaño del Robledo. We could meet local people working on black Iberian pig commerce and chestnut based products to share their pride of their natural resources. Finally, we will walk down quietly to Galaroza through a high quality riverbank looking for the furtive kingfisher or the otter.

Day 5: Galaroza – Valdelarco – Navahermosa – Valdelarco. Length: 14,7 Km / 9,13 mi, Highest point: 711 m / 2.332,7 ft, Ascent: 254 m / 833,33 ft, Dificulty: medium.

The smugglers trail, used during the post-war. We go through all the landscape we have seen during the week: riverbanks, cork and holm oak wood pasture, pinewoods, orchards, white villages, gorges… It might be a nice walk to finish a wonderful week walking. Transfer to Aracena to visit the Cave of the Wonders and do a local cheese taste.

We can also keep on a longer itinerary for several more days… Possibilities are not missing… Let’s just ask us for whatever you would like.

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