Peña Roya Beech Wood

It is the beech wood walk in the Moncayo Natural Park. It starts from the Fuente del Sacristán picnic area, at 1,248 m, enters the beech forest as far as the Castilla gorge, climbs to the Santa Lucía meadows and returns by the GR 90. It is a route of wide track and little slope almost all the way, with continuous shade: one of the most rewarding on the Moncayo for a family outing.

The Route

From the Fuente del Sacristán you follow the asphalt road up to the sanctuary for about 400 m. At the first bend, a forest track closed to cars goes into the wood: it is the Peña Roya beech wood, which covers a whole north-facing slope as far as the Castilla gorge. The Tarazona Town Council route guide describes it as a comfortable, shady and damp path, with heather among the beeches and moss on the ground. About two kilometres along, a waterlogged stretch announces the Peña Roya spring.

Further on the wood thins, the track crosses the path that climbs to the Collado de Castilla and, in the gorge, makes a sharp bend and gains height. From that upper stretch you see above the treetops: San Martín de la Virgen del Moncayo, Lituénigo, Litago and other villages of the foothills. Then the path re-enters the beech wood as far as the sanctuary's main track, drops towards the Santa Lucía meadow, swaps the beech wood for pine forest and returns to the Fuente del Sacristán.

Facts

7.8 km circular according to Senditur (the municipal guide gives 7.9 km), about 266 m of ascent and about 2 h 20 without stops, between 1,250 and 1,500 m in altitude. The steepest part is done downhill: watch for slips. In autumn the beech wood turns red and yellow; in summer it is a shady route. The municipal guide lists among the forest's birds the nuthatch, coal tit, blue tit, goldcrests and great spotted woodpecker, and on the ground the woodcock.

Getting There

From Tarazona by the SO-382 towards Santa Cruz de Moncayo and the Agramonte turning, with the park's interpretation centre; the sanctuary track passes the Fuente de la Teja and then the Fuente del Sacristán. It has few spaces: park only in the marked ones, or start from another car park on the track, adding some distance. For somewhere to eat nearby, there is the Agramonte Restaurant, in the same spot. If you are looking for something harder, the climb up the Moncayo starts higher up the same track.