Vereda de Alcozáyar Trail - PR-A 17

The Vereda de Alcozáyar Trail – PR-A 17 runs through the surroundings of the Sierra Nevada National Park and Natural Park, through the land belonging to the municipality of Alboloduy, with its narrow streets that still conserve typical Mozarabic architecture and beautiful "tinaos"– little covered areas that are a typical feature of the Alpujarra region.

The trail begins at La Rambla de Alcozáyar, next to the bridge on the A-1075 road, near the bar/restaurant. As you go along the path, you leave the Alboloduy wine cellars and La Campana Cliff on your left. It follows a narrow path that leads off to the left and perches over the right side of Alcozáyar. The vegetation changes and we find species such as: albardine, esparto grass, flax-leaved daphne, cistus clusii, asparagus ferns, bolinas, brooms, Spanish lavender, etc.

The presence of tamarisks, reeds and rushes tell us that water is nearby. A few metres on is the Balsica Salobre. It is a natural "cocón" (corner) where small amounts of salt accumulate formed by the water in the reservoir. It is sulphurous water with mineral-medicinal properties, traditionally used by the townspeople for treating skin diseases. Here there is an abundance of houseleeks and shrubby swampfires, plants that indicate a high saline content in the soil.

From here we can see ruins, and also the village of Alboloduy and the Peñón de la Reina. The trail comes to an area with pine trees, where there is a turn-off to the left, which allow us to go down to the hill and go up the aforementioned Peñón (rock, with Neolithic remains from the 6th century BC) and the Cerro de La Mula.

But the PR A-17 trail continues on up from this point to later cross halfway down the hill from the Cerro de La Mula and join what we call the Vereda de Alcozáyar.

This well-marked trail winds down the hill, passing by old plaster kilns ("caleras") until it meets the road at the municipal store. From here you can get to the starting point by road.