Juniper woods of the Puebla de San Miguel Natural Park

On the western slope of Javalambre, already in the Rincón de Ademuz, the Generalitat Valenciana declared the Puebla de San Miguel Natural Park in 2007: 6,390 hectares, the whole municipality. You come for the Spanish juniper forests, with creeping juniper on the summits, Scots pine and yew in the ravines, and for the Alto de las Barracas, which at 1,838 metres is the roof of the Valencian Community. The park attributes its good state to centuries of careful use by the villagers.

Sabina La Fantástica and the Barranco de los Tajos

The Yellow Route, "Sabinas, witnesses of time", is the one that best sums up the park in a short time: a 4.2 km circuit, an hour and a half, low difficulty and only 92 metres of climb. It leaves from the Lavadero de Abajo, in the village itself, and passes the Sabina La Fantástica, a Spanish juniper catalogued as monumental, among other old junipers and holm oaks. Then it goes down to the Barranco de los Tajos, high rock walls where two ravines meet and a small waterfall falls, and returns by Los Pucheros, an Iberian settlement from the 3rd century BC with a viewpoint over the ravine.

El Carrascal, from the Tejería

The Green Route, "El Carrascal, in the footsteps of the past", starts at the Tejería, a former tile factory turned into a recreation area 2 km from the village, where you can park. It is a 4.7 km circuit, an hour and a half and 168 metres of climb, through woodland of holm oak, kermes oak and Portuguese oak, with a reconstructed gypsum kiln and charcoal pit and a charcoal burner's hut. From the Carrascal hill you see the whole Puebla de San Miguel valley.

Twenty-six kilometres along the summits

The Blue Route is for a mountain bike or a full day on foot: a 26 km circuit, 573 metres of elevation gain and medium-high difficulty, about 3 h 15 by bike and 6 h 20 on foot. At 11 km a track on the left shortens it to 17. It runs through juniper woods and the Pinar Espeso, of black pine, passes the Santa Quiteria esplanade and looks out over the valleys of Arcos de las Salinas, Galáctica's village.

Getting there and where to ask

From Galáctica it is about 28 km and 41 minutes by car; from Aras de los Olmos, 26 km on the CV-363. There is no public transport to the village. The park office is at the Casa Forestal, on the CV-363 road, and opens Monday to Friday from 9:00 to 14:00 (phone 660 127 491); it sometimes closes for a while because staff are out in the field, so call first. On the park's website are the general map and each route's files to download. Groups organising a walk on their own must request authorisation beforehand, using the park's form.

When not to go

In winter it often snows and the park asks you to check the weather before setting out. In storms, the ravines are dangerous because of sudden floods and rockfalls: leave the Yellow Route, which goes down to the Barranco de los Tajos, for a stable day. Fires only in the designated areas, such as the Don Guillén recreation area.

A morning among junipers, lunch at Aras Rural and the afternoon at Galáctica make a full day in the same range.