We went to Alpuente, in the north-east of Valencia Province, to explore the trails through the gorge and visit the castle and Medieval aqueduct. The route was about 10km long with 350m of elevation gain.
Our first destination was the castle. We walked up through the town whilst admiring the bright crochet decorations on the buildings. At the castle it was very windy and even a bit chilly! The castle is mainly walls and ruins but there are still some old rooms you can enter into. It also has great views around the area and it is easy to see why it was chosen as a strategic location.
We returned through the town and walked to the edge of it to start the route. We began on a gravel road but soon turned left onto a narrow trail downhill. There were a few steep parts and the group tried a variety of ways to get down including running, jumping and sliding.
The trail flattened out for a bit, although it was still single file before going uphill into forest. The trail was wider in the forest through and we came to a rest area with benches, a font and very good views.
From the rest area we walked on gravel roads, enjoying the interesting landscape and soil formations of the area. To get down to La Bomba waterfall there is a very narrow trail that zig-zags steeply down the gorge. We needed to take extra care on the trail as there were lots of loose rocks and some sharp descents. From the trail there were amazing views of the the ravine though.
At the bottom of the trail there was a stream with flat rocks which made it the perfect place for lunch. We soon spotted crayfish in the pool who entertained us with their fights. Congratulations to the big crayfish who won his fights to become champion of the pool.
To cross the stream we climbed over large boulders and stopped for dessert of delicious wild blackberries. It was a short walk to the beautiful waterfall. We turned back from the waterfall and continued on the trail up out of the valley.
The way back to Alpuente was via gravel dirt roads. There were some big slopes which were fun to run down. Finally, the gravel roads led back to steps into the village.
In Alpuente, Dmitry suggested a short detour before going to the bar which we enthusiastically agreed to. We got back in the vehicles before driving a few minutes out of Alpuente – passing a stegosaurus on the way!
We arrived at the Medieval Aqueduct of the Arches and although most people admired it from below I decide to go on top of it for a different view. To get to the trail walked along the length of the aqueduct (at ground level) and turned right onto a flat forest trail. It had various shelters made of branches and sticks but more importantly lots of blackberries. The trail led us across a bridge, along a stone path and back to the cars.
The Alpuente gorge area is a great place to explore. There are a fun range of narrow trails as well as easier dirt roads to follow and it is certainly worth visiting La Bomba waterfall. Whilst in Alpuente it would also be a shame to not visit the castle and aqueduct.
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