40.07° N · 0.52° W
The Fuente de los Baños, at 25 °C all year, the Chillapájaros gorge, rafting on the Mijares and waymarked trails, an hour from Castellón and Valencia.
Part of Thermal getaways
What to do
Each plan says how long it takes, who it's for and whether you can book.
Natural Mijares pool with 25 °C water all year, beneath a limestone gorge, with a Blue Flag · free out of season, capacity-controlled entry in summer.
An 8.6 km loop with 460 m of ascent above the Mijares canyon, with walls over 100 m high · 3 h · free.
Local trail SL-CV-104, 6 km to the ruins of a Muslim castle above the valley · 2 h · 386 m of ascent · easy.
Itineraries
Days and weekends already planned out, with how to get between each stop and who to book with.
Plan the trip
Each choice narrows the next: the season shapes how best to travel, and how you travel decides where you stay and where you eat.
When to go
Spring and early autumn to combine a swim and a trail. In summer, the Fuente requires a ticket with capacity limits; in winter, the water stays at 25 °C and steams.
How you travel
Choose how you're travelling and we'll tell you where to stay, how to get around, where to eat and which services you'll need. We only show the ways of travelling that make sense here.
You reach Montanejos by the CV-20 from Castellón and Onda, or by the A-23 and CV-195 from Valencia and Teruel. In the village everything is on foot: the Fuente de los Baños, the square and the trails all leave from the riverside path.
Who you're with
A trip with a toddler is not the same as one with a teenager. Pick yours to see what works and what to bear in mind.
Montanejos works with children thanks to the water: the Fuente de los Baños is at 25 °C all year and has shallow areas, picnic areas and play areas. With that and a short walk, the day is made.
For teenagers, Montanejos is the real thing in adventure: class III rafting, canyons with walls over 100 m high and trails with viewpoints over the river.
Montanejos is one of the few places where a group of friends can chain together canyoning, rafting, kayaking, climbing and via ferrata in a weekend, with a thermal pool to finish. Almost everything is organised by the same people and booked together. A weekend works out perfectly: on Saturday, canyoning or rafting in the morning and the Fuente de los Baños in the afternoon; on Sunday, kayaking or via ferrata before heading back. Most of the activities are introductory and can be combined on the same day, so the group splits up according to each person's mood. For rafting, the price per person drops the bigger the group.
Where to stay
We show you what suits the way you travel.Change how you travel
Why we like it: Family-run rural hotel in the former palace of the counts of Valterra, in the village centre: 28 rooms, apartments and a restaurant with local cooking.
Why we like it: Family hotel of more than forty years beside the Mijares, with a hydromassage spa and thermal circuit, a restaurant and free parking.
Why we like it: Spa hotel on the banks of the Mijares, with a direct lift to the river and the thermal pools, an outdoor pool and a restaurant.
Why we like it: Renewable-energy campsite on the slope of Monte del Castillo, within walking distance of the village: motorhomes, tents, wooden cabins, glamping and grilled food to order.
Services for this trip
Where to eat
From set lunch menus to Michelin stars. We mark the price level and what to order at each place.
What to order: griddled octopus to share and, for a main, the venison fillets with port and cranberries
What to order: the slow-cooked lamb shoulder or some tripe, and croquettes to start
Map
The places to stay and services on the map are the ones for the way you travel. Turn on the layers you want and tap a point to see its details.
Nearby
The closest places, whichever country they are in.
Tips
Three to five days ahead, at visitmontanejos.com.
The bottom is rock; in winter it is cold when you get out of the water.
The free car park fills up on hot days.
A trail in the morning, a swim when the sun is strongest.
Montanejos is a village in the Alto Mijares, inland Castellón, where the river leaves a limestone canyon and, a few metres further down, warms up. In the bed of the Mijares the Fuente de los Baños wells up, about 6,000 litres a minute of water at 25 °C all year, forming turquoise pools beneath walls almost 15 m high. There is more around it: the Chillapájaros gorge, with walls over 100 m; the Maimona ravine, with more than 400 climbing routes; the Arenoso reservoir and a network of waymarked trails that leave from the same riverside promenade. It is the clearest Sunday outing for water and mountains from Castellón and Valencia, and a good weekend from Teruel.
By car, almost always. From Castellón it is about 65 km along the CV-20, via Onda and the Mijares valley: around an hour, with many bends at the end. From Valencia, an hour and a quarter or an hour and a half along the A-23 to Segorbe or Jérica and then the CV-195. From Teruel, a little over an hour and a quarter heading down the A-23. The last stretch is a mountain road: take it easy.
In the free Corral de Prats car park, whose number of free spaces is published in real time by Visit Montanejos. On hot days it fills early: arrive before 10:00. The hotels in the village have their own solutions: the Xauen has its own free car park 300 m away. From the village you walk to the Fuente along the riverside promenade.
Out of season, no: access is free. On the busiest days the town council controls capacity between the Puente Nuevo and the spring. In 2026 these were 20 and 21 June, every day from 26 June to 6 September and 12 and 13 September. On those days the ticket is bought online at visitmontanejos.com or at the ticket offices, and it is advisable to do so three to five days ahead. Rafting with Somos Aventura and some hotels, such as El Palacio, include or arrange the ticket.
A day covers the Fuente and a short trail: the family one (4.2 km) or the one to the Aljama castle (6 km, 2 h). With a night you can also do the Estrechos trail, 8.6 km and 460 m of ascent above the canyon, or an activity: class III rafting on the Mijares (from €40, 3 h, from age 8) or guided kayaking at Arenoso (€35, 2 h, from age 5). Montanejos also has a spa for anyone looking for a thermal circuit.
The Chillapájaros gorge can also be descended by swimming: the water canyon has no abseils, only currents and optional jumps, from age 12 and from €40. Above that same canyon, Wild Jump sets up a 100 m rope jump. In the limestone of the Mijares there are hundreds of climbing routes, and Máxima Aventura runs introductory sessions and long routes from age 8; the same company takes you to the La Muela and La Mina ferratas, in Villahermosa del Río. Underground, the Cirá de Montán cave is an introductory caving trip from age 8. And if it rains, the Montanejos Spa has thermal sessions from €30 and a family circuit on Saturday afternoons.
In spring and early autumn, when you can walk and swim on the same day and the Fuente does not require a ticket. In summer the water is the best in inland Castellón, but with capacity limits and many visitors. In winter the water stays at 25 °C and the contrast with the air makes steam rise from the river: with a good towel and warm clothes, it is the quietest season.
On the Plaza de España, La Taberna serves Mediterranean cooking with tapas, venison and chargrilled steak on a hot stone, and is open on Sunday at lunchtime (closed on Tuesdays). On Calle San Jaime, San Jaime 35 is a family restaurant serving stews. To sleep, the Hotel Rosaleda del Mijares has a lift straight down to the river; the Xauen has a spa and free parking; El Palacio, in the former palace of the Counts of Valterra, is right in the centre; and Camping La Granja, on the Montán road, admits motorhomes.
Questions
25 °C all year round.
Only on the capacity-control days, from late June to mid-September. The rest of the year access is free.
Between an hour and a quarter and an hour and a half along the A-23 and the CV-195.
Yes, on the Mijares, from late March to late October, from age 8 and if you can swim. Somos Aventura runs it from €40.
With children, the family trail (4.2 km) or the castle one (6 km). With more energy, the Estrechos: 8.6 km and 460 m of ascent.
Yes. The water stays at 25 °C and there is no capacity control.
Geocaliahttps://www.geocalia.com/en/spain/valencian-community/montanejos
