Montanejos Family Trail

The family trail is the shortest of Montanejos's waymarked trails: 4.2 km, 1 h 30 min and 200 m of ascent, with low difficulty. It carries the code SL-CV-F and white and brown marks. It is the way to show children the Mijares valley without a day in the mountains: in little over an hour they pass a cave, a dam, the entrance to a canyon and a rock shelter, and at the end they can swim at the Fuente de los Baños.

The route step by step

Like almost all the town's trails, it leaves from the meeting point (the "Km 0" marked by the tourist office). You take the CV-20 towards Puebla de Arenoso, cross the bridge over the Maimona ravine and go up the pedestrian path. The start is on the left, marked with a post, because it is a stretch shared by several trails.

After a first climb you reach a fork: go right. The route has three small out-and-back variants, which are what makes it entertaining for children. The first leads to the Cueva Negra. You return to the main path and, going down towards the road, you keep left; you pass a tunnel and go down a paved stretch with steps to the Cirat dam. From there the second variant leaves, on the left, towards Los Estrechos, the canyon where the Mijares runs between walls over 100 m high. Back at the dam, the third variant leads to the Abrigo de Rufino. Then you go down to the riverside path and return to the start or, with a detour of about 200 m to the right, reach the Fuente de los Baños.

With children: what to bear in mind

The 200 m of ascent is spread between the climb at the start and the variants, so it is best to go unhurried and with water. The stretch of paved steps down to the dam is the most delicate for the smallest; better hand in hand. You can take a dog, on a lead. The route can be done all year, but in summer the heat is fierce in the middle of the day: it is better to set off early or in the late afternoon. Wear closed shoes and, if you plan to finish in the water, swimsuit, towel and water shoes.

Getting there and what to combine it with

You start on foot from the town centre, so it is enough to leave the car at the free Corral de Prats car park; the tourism website shows free spaces. The tourist office has the trail map, which can also be downloaded from visitmontanejos.com, and each route links to its Wikiloc track.

If the children want more, the next step is the Estrechos trail, which climbs above the same canyon, or the Aljama castle trail, also of low difficulty. Bear in mind that on summer capacity days the Fuente de los Baños needs a ticket, bought online or at the ticket booths.