Puerto de la Ragua - Cabo de Gata Trail - GR 140.

The Puerto de la Ragua - Cabo de Gata Trail – GR-140 links the GR 7. and GR 92 Long-Distance Trails. The GR-140 trail is in itself an exhibition of the variety of the Almeria landscapes and the customs of its people.

The 169 km of the route will take us from the peaks of the Sierra Nevada, in the La Ragua Pass located at an altitude of 2,000 m in the heart of the National Park to the beaches of the Cabo de Gata, crossing the Almeria Alpujarra where we can enjoy the wines and cuisine, the riverside landscapes and the hospitality of the local people in the villages of Bayárcal, Paterna del Río and its renowned Guarros quarter, Laujar de Andarax, Benecid, Fondón, Almócita, Padules, Canjáyar (Alcora quarter).

From here we join the Sierra de Gádor mountains, an impressive massif where minerals have been extracted since Roman times. We arrive in the district of Instinción, once again in Sierra Nevada, this time at the extreme eastern end.

The trail follows the course of the Andarax River that leads to the valley of the same name, the “Valle del Andarax”. Pass through Bentarique, Terque, Alhabia, Santa Fe de Mondújar, Gádor and Rioja.

The desert, the landscape contrasts enormously again, this time in a more rugged way, with Tabernas located in the foothills of the Sierra Alhamilla mountains whose forested peak we reach by crossing the oasis of the Almeria Subdesert (the scene for the shooting of countless films in the district of Tabernas)

In all the towns we cross along the GR-140 we'll find signs of the Andalusí heritage, the remains of towers and castles, Mozarabic churches, and the exploitation of that highly prized element "Water" by means of cisterns, reservoirs, irrigation channels and mills. The latter from Huebro, still in the Sierra Alhamilla mountains, will lead us on to Níjar.

From the district of La Matanza we'll be able to make out the end of the trail at the beautiful Cabo de Gata beaches and the salt pans, home to countless birds with a special mention for the pink flamingo.