Circular Mills Trail

Ten and a Half Kilometres Without Leaving the Municipality of Guadalupe

It is the circular route of the Villuercas-Ibores-Jara Geopark that starts in the village itself, with no car involved. The track the Geopark publishes measures about 10.5 kilometres and goes from about 560 metres in altitude, in the Guadalupejo valley, to about 780 at the highest point: it goes up and down with no mountain stretches, but it is not a flat stroll. The Geopark gives no time; work out yours from the distance and that ascent.

From Calle Cáceres to the Mato Dam

You set out from the car parks on Avenida Eusebio González, at the western entrance to the village. You climb Calle Cáceres and Calle San José Obrero and, past the San José fountain, take a track on the left that leads to the dam of the Mato reservoir, which is also called the Guadalupe reservoir or the Mills Trail reservoir. Up to here the hillside is Pyrenean oak, maritime pine, cork oak, gall oak and chestnut.

The Climb Towards the Miramonte Drover's Road

Past the dam the path goes gently up and down to the Águila stream, where a zigzag climb begins, the hardest part. You cross the Miramonte drover's road and reach the highest point: from there you see the Villuercas and Agudo peaks, the hermitage of Santa Catalina and the 14th-century Mirabel farm-palace, declared a Site of Cultural Interest. Then you go down calmly again to the reservoir.

The Return by the Camino de la Solana and the Batán Mill

You cross the dam and the return begins along the Camino de la Solana, within the ecological corridor of the Guadalupejo river, with ash, maple, alder, ivy and honeysuckle on the bank. After crossing the Miramonte drover's road again, the Batán mill appears, one of the water-powered works there were along the river; some worked for the Puebla and for the monastery. A track on the left climbs to the CC-171 road and the Guadalupe viewpoint, with the village and the monastery in front of you, and from there you return to the old town.

Rocks 600 Million Years Old

The route treads on the oldest materials in the Geopark: the shales and greywackes of the Guadiana Formation, from the Ediacaran, sediments of a deep sea some 600 million years ago. Above them are the layers of the Ibor Group and, on ridges and scree, the Armorican quartzite of the Ordovician, about 470 million years old.

The GPX and the Office Map

Download the GPX track from the Geopark website or ask for the map at the tourist office in the Plaza de Santa María. Leave the car in the car parks on Avenida Eusebio González, where the route starts. The Geopark mentions no springs on the route after the San José one, at the edge of the village: carry water. With a dog, on a lead. If you still feel like walking, the Alfonso Onceno trail is the long traverse that ends in Guadalupe.