Rochafrida Castle Trail

Rochafrida is a ruined castle on a rocky outcrop in the San Pedro area, in Ossa de Montiel, very close to the Montesinos Cave. The regional government includes it among the park's waymarked trails: a 4.3 km walk that starts and ends at the chapel of San Pedro, with seven interpretive stops. The official listing gives it 1 hour 40 minutes and low difficulty; with stops and photos, allow about two hours. Combine it with the Montesinos Cave on the same morning, because they are a stone's throw apart.

The route

After a short stretch along the road, you take a dirt track that leads to the foot of the castle. From there, a stony path climbs through dense vegetation to the enclosure: it is the only demanding stretch of the route, and the leaflet marks it as the main difficulty. Then the track goes round the fortress and returns. The stops are marked with numbered stakes about 30 cm high, so it is a good idea to carry the park's leaflet, which explains each one.

Along the way you see the Fonfrida, a spring at the foot of the castle; a stretch of a medieval road that still keeps some of its paving; a tufa spring, with remains of petrified trunks and leaves in the tufa; the remains of a water wheel that raised water to irrigate gardens; and the ruins of the Tobar mill, one of the four owned by the residents of Ossa de Montiel. On the limestone cliffs rock-dwelling birds nest: the leaflet mentions Bonelli's eagle, the eagle owl, the peregrine falcon, rock doves and jackdaws.

The castle and its legend

According to the regional government, it is a small military castle built in the 12th century by the Almohads, part of a defensive line between Toledo and Córdoba. What remains is a polygonal walled enclosure of lime, sand and limestone, with walls about two metres thick. The rock and the old marshy lagoon that surrounded it, fed by the Fonfrida and three other springs, made it almost impregnable.

Little is known of the real history, which is why the minstrels made it up. A 15th-century ballad places Doña Rosaflorida here, weeping for the knight Montesinos, the same one who gives his name to the cave Don Quixote visited. Telling the children this before you climb makes the route more fun.

Before you go

The trail has no shade in summer: go early, with water and a hat. They are open-air ruins, unfenced, with no hours or entrance fee: keep an eye on children on the walls. Do not light fires and do not leave the paths. The park's information centre in Ruidera provides the leaflet and the state of the paths. If you like walking, in the area you also have the route round the Rey, Colgada and Batana lagoons and the guided visit to the Montesinos Cave.