NAT

URE

TRA

ILC

AÑ

AD

A R

EAL

SOR

IAN

A

OC

CID

ENTA

L

This

Nat

ure

Trai

l cov

ers

alm

ost

150

km d

ivid

ed in

8 s

tage

s, pr

eced

ed b

y a

shor

t “z

ero

stag

e”.

This

Nat

ure

Trai

l ru

ns

alon

g th

e be

tter

par

t of t

he C

añad

a Re

al S

oria

na O

ccid

enta

l dr

over

’s w

ay a

cros

s th

e pr

ovin

ce o

f Seg

ovia

, fro

m W

est

to

East

, fr

om t

he E

l Es

pina

r St

atio

n to

the

tow

n of

Ayl

lón.

A

lthou

gh it

may

be

cove

red

on fo

ot, v

irtua

lly a

ll th

e ro

ute

is p

erfe

ct fo

r m

ount

ain

bike

s; th

e on

ly d

raw

back

are

som

e st

eep

sect

ions

, whe

re p

rude

nce

is a

dvis

ed.

In th

eir t

rip, t

he tr

avel

lers

will

vis

it to

wns

suc

h as

El E

spin

ar,

Ote

ro d

e H

erre

ros,

Soto

salb

os, C

olla

do H

erm

oso,

Nav

afría

, A

rcon

es,

Villa

rejo

, Ri

aza

and

Aylló

n, a

nd a

lar

ge p

art

of

the

rout

e is

mad

e ac

ross

the

Sie

rra

Nor

te d

e G

uada

rram

a N

atur

al P

ark.

NIPO: DL:

El E

spin

ar to

Ayl

lón

[Seg

ovia

]

REM

INIS

CIN

G

TRA

NSH

UM

AN

CE

BY

TH

E M

OU

NTA

IN R

AN

GES

OF

SEG

OV

IA

Stage 0: Estación de El Espinar-El Espinar

0. 7-km stage that joins Estación de El Espinar, the sm

all neighbourhood w

here the train station is located, and the tow

n of El Espinar. The way runs along the course of

the River Gudillos until it turns tow

ards the town of El

Espinar near the Colada de la Soledad.

Stage 1. El Espinar-Otero de H

erreros

1. This stage, w

hich runs over 13 km, starts by leaving behind

the town of El Espinar. Before descending to the course

of the River Moros, the path crosses a gate and accesses

the Cañada Real Soriana Occidental drover’s w

ay, whose

tracing it will follow

across the entire province of Segovia. After leaving behind the tow

n of Los Ángeles de San Rafael, w

hich is a main com

munication hub, and crossing

the Sierra del Quintanar at a m

id-slope level, the stage fi-nishes w

hen it reaches the Otero de H

erreros Station.

Stage 2. Otero de H

erreros-Embalse del P

ontón Alto

2. From

Otero de H

ereros, the path encounters several ri-vers (M

ilanillos, Peces and Acebeda) and creeks(Viboras,

Pedrona, Pedriza, Fuentecillas,…). The trail runs at mid-

slope level across the Sierra de Guadarram

a, allowing to

enjoy its lush vegetation. This stage, which runs over 21

km, ends next to the dam

of the Pontón Alto reservoir.

Stage 3. Embalse del P

ontón Alto – C

ollado Herm

oso

3. This stage spans alm

ost 20 km, from

the dam of the

Pontón Alto reservoir to C

ollado Herm

oso. The na-rrow

bridge of Merinas, the Rancho de la M

arquesa and

the The Descansadero de Torrecaballeros, a traditional

resting area for herds, are tokens of a century-old trans-hum

ance tradition in the area. Before reaching the end of the stage in C

ollado Herm

oso, a visit to the pretty vi-llage of Sotosalbos is w

ell worth a visit.

Stage 4. C

ollado Herm

oso-Navafría

4.

A short stage just under 10 km

where the C

añada Real Soriana O

ccidental drover’s way runs tow

ards the N-110

road and which ends in the natural pool form

ed in the w

aters of the Cega River in the pretty village of Navafría.

Stage 5. Navafría – A

rcones

5. This fifth stage, w

hich runs a little over 14 km, takes

from N

avafría to Arcones. The lush pastures and m

i-lestones such as the traditional resting area for herds of D

escansadero de Gallegos and D

escansadero Corral de

la Mesta leave no doubt that the route runs along the

Cañada Real Soriana O

ccidental drover’s road.

Stage 6. Arcones – V

illarejo

6. The hardest stage of the trail w

ithout a doubt, this section runs above 21 km

. The beautiful woods of Spanish juniper,

Scots pine and, at the other side of the A-1 highway, the pas-

tures and the woods of Pyrenean oak are w

ell worth the

effort. The town of Villarejo m

arks the end of this stage.

Stage 7. Villarejo-R

iaza

7. In this 18 km

seventh stage, the trail runs across Pyrenean oak and Scots pines from

Villarejo to Riaza, leaving the ski resort of La Pinilla to the right before

reaching its final point in Riaza.

Stage 8. Riaza-A

yllón

8. The last stage of this Nature trail is also the longest,

being over 24 km long, but at the sam

e time is a good

reward for past efforts, since this stage consist on a

mild slope, w

hich almost alw

ays goes down. It starts in

Riaza, one of the most stunning villages of the provin-

ce of Segovia thanks, among other things, to its arcaded

square, and ends in Ayllón, which is the perfect ending

to this Cañada Real Soriana O

ccidental Nature Trial.

NATU

RE TRAIL

CA

ÑA

DA

REA

L SOR

IAN

A

OC

CID

ENTA

L.

Cow

drinking in River PirónPanoram

ic view of the m

ountain rangeC

añada Real Soriana Occidental

milestone

CA

ÑA

DA

REA

L SOR

IAN

A O

CC

IDEN

TAL

DR

OV

ERS’ W

AY

The Cañada Real Soriana Occidental is a traditional cattle

road used for centuries by herds of Merino sheep in their

search for pastures. Today, all cattle roads are regulated by Act 3/95, of 23 M

arch, on Drovers’ road, and cons-

titute imprescriptible, inalienable, unattachable goods,

formally ow

ned by Regional Governm

ents. The most im

-portant am

ong cattle roads are the type called drovers’ roads, due to the fact that they are 75 m

wide. In Spanish

they are called “cañada real”, the mention of “real” (“ro-

yal”) having been granted by King Alfonso XI of Castile due to the im

portance of these roads for the economy

at the time. In current tim

es, their use as cattle road has dim

inished and been complem

ented by other compa-

tible uses, such as public and environmental uses. This

drovers’ way is one of the m

ost important in the country.

SECTO

RP

ENIN

SULA

R C

ENTER

Sinc

e 19

93 t

he M

inis

try

for

Agr

icul

ture

and

Fis

herie

s, Fo

od

and

the

Envi

ronm

ent’s

Nat

ure

Trai

ls P

rogr

am a

ims

to r

es-

tore

form

er tr

ansp

ort i

nfra

stru

ctur

es s

uch

as ra

ilway

trac

ks,

catt

le t

rails

and

tra

ditio

nal

rout

es,

for

publ

ic u

se a

nd

enjo

ymen

t.

Thes

e ro

utes

take

us

to th

e co

untr

ysid

e to

dis

cove

r the

bio

-di

vers

ity a

nd b

eaut

y of

our

pre

ciou

s na

tura

l her

itage

, and

di

scov

er t

he v

illag

es, s

ight

s, tr

aditi

ons

and

peop

le t

hat

are

part

of t

he u

niqu

e cu

ltura

l lan

dsca

pe o

f our

cou

ntry

.

We

invi

te y

ou to

vis

it th

em a

nd o

ffer y

ou th

e ke

ys to

enj

oy

the

trip

. In

this

bro

chur

e yo

u w

ill fi

nd a

brie

f des

crip

tion

of

the

Cañ

ada

Real

Occ

iden

tal O

rient

al N

atur

e Tr

ail a

nd t

he

map

for t

he jo

urne

y, al

ong

with

reco

mm

enda

tions

to m

ake

the

mos

t of

thi

s ex

perie

nce.

We

only

ask

one

thi

ng o

f you

: do

not

forg

et t

o le

ave

ever

ythi

ng a

s yo

u fo

und

it. T

he c

on-

serv

atio

n of

thes

e pa

thw

ays

is a

lso

your

resp

onsi

bilit

y.

TELE

PH

ON

ES O

F IN

TER

EST:

• D

irecc

ión

Gen

eral

del

Med

io N

atur

al d

e la

Junt

a de

Cas

tilla

y L

eón:

00

34 9

83 4

19 9

36/

0034

983

419

935

• Se

rvic

io T

erri

tori

al d

e M

edio

Am

bien

te

de S

egov

ia:

0034

921

417

384

SEC

TOR

PEN

INSU

LAR

CEN

TER

Gui

de t

o th

eNa

ture

Tr

ails

of S

pain

Starting point

End of trail

Feature of natural interest

Informative panel

NATURE TRAILCAÑADA REAL SORIANA

OCCIDENTAL

Cam

ino

Nat

ural

de

la C

añad

a Re

al S

oria

na O

ccid

enta

lM

apa

VI.

17.1

Hoj

a 1

de 1

7

Camino Natural del Valle del Lozoya

Camino Natural de los hayedos y robledales de Riaza

Camino Natural Vía Verde del Valle del Eresma

Camino Natural del Eresma

Camino Natural de Campo Azálvaro

Camino Natural de la Cañada Real Soriana Occidental

5

6

4

900

700

1300

0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 100 110 120 130 140 148,7(m) (Km)

1100

1500

town point of interest

El Espinar

Otero de Herreros

Pontón Altoreservoir

Collado Hermoso

NavafríaArcones

Villarejo Riaza

MIDE

Upward gradient

Downward gradient

ROUTE LENGHT

TIME

Harshness of natural environment

Guidande along the route

Route difficulty

Amount of effort needed

2225

2382 m2604 m

148,70 km39 h 25 min

AyllónEl Espinar station

Natural/National Park

7

2

8

0

3

1

SECTORPENINSULAR CENTER

NatureTrails