Río Alhama - Paulenca Trail - PR-A 153

The Río Alhama - Paulenca Trail - PR-A 153 starts in the Los Baños de Graena Spa. From here, we continue towards the river and after crossing it we continue along a path towards Marchal. This route has been used since time immemorial to move from one village to another, both by local inhabitants and guests at the spa.

The Aleppo pine is the dominant feature of the vegetation, until we reach the cemetery of Marchal. Once in this village, we pass through the district of caves with excellent views of the valley. We cross the village in the direction of the boulevard. Once here we walk along it until we come to a narrow trail on the left that runs between olive groves. After a few metres we come to a track which takes us to the next village, Beas de Guadix. This section passes at the foot of some magnificent formations of badlands, the Cárcavas de Marchal declared a Natural Monument, where we'll be able to see the remains of medieval cave refuges.

Once in Beas, we cross the Alhama River and start to climb out of the valley until we reach the area known as the “End of the World” lookout point which has magnificent views. From we continue here towards Guadix, until we come to the small village of Paulenca, where our route finishes.

What we call the “Valley of Alhama” encompasses all the towns located on the right bank of the upper basin of the Fardes River: La Peza, Cortes and Graena (Los Baños, Graena, Cortes and Lopera), Polícar, Beas de Guadix, Marchal and Purullena. The landscape in this area enables us to understand the geological evolution of the whole region: in the higher areas, the limestone mountains of the Sierra de La Peza and Lugros; down below, the vast sedimentary plains where we find the villages of Lugros and Polícar; and finally, the badlands formed by the erosion of clay, where we find the remaining villages.

Although the whole area has been occupied since recent prehistory, it was in Roman times when it became uniquely important thanks to the hot springs of Graena, and the passage of the Via Acci (Guadix) – Iliberis (Granada) which is recalled by the place name of Beas. Most of the villages of today date from medieval times, with cave-refuges still visible in many parts in the valley, which were turned into cave-houses. The historic heritage of the area is complemented by the 16th century Mudejar churches.