Sunday, May 4
The Ajuez ravine route goes through the municipality of Chóvar. We are going to walk through the cork oak forests and an impressive ravine with big sandstone walls. The trail will also demonstrate us a bit of mining history of the area.
Guide: Melchor
Difficulty: medium (12km with 480m of elevation gain)
Technical level: medium (single track trails)
Meeting point: Mestalla, parking lot on av. Aragón, 9:30 (return to Valencia ~18:00)
Price: 43 euros (39 euros signing up before Friday, 02.05) / 15 euros coming to Chóvar.
The price includes professional guide, transportation, accident and public liability insurances.
Bring at least 1.5l of water, lunch, cap and hiking shoes.
Become a member and get a 6-euros discount for every hike.
Free cancellation available for up to 48 hours prior to the hike.
Please be punctual, we wait 10 minutes maximum before we leave Valencia.
On this beautiful route through the Barranco de Ajuez you can enjoy one of the most appreciated and visited enclaves of the Sierra Espadán where we will enjoy nature in its purest form. As places of interest on the route, we highlight the Ajuez Reservoir, Fuente Fresca and the remains of mining in Chóvar. We will pass through the Socavón cinnabar mine that was in operation until 1966, leased by The Porvenir Mercury Mines Ltd in 1907, you can still see the sections of tracks and some wagons. At the same time we will see different kinds of vegetation, where cork oaks and ferns stand out. This route is circular and we recommend it for family walks, although it can be done by all kinds of hikers since it is very simple.
Chóvar has a rich mining heritage since for decades numerous mines have been utilized throughout the term to obtain cinnabar, which was melted in furnaces to obtain mercury. From the beginning of the 20th century until the closure of the mines in 1967, the mining if the municipality had its period of greatest splendor; inherited from this period we find numerous mining remains in the area. As a consequence of this mining heritage, and of the poor conditions in which the miners used to work, many of them fell ill and died.
As a curiosity, in the Erica del Vaquero we find remains of the Ancient Furnaces, of the aludel or Bustamante type, that were used to liquefy mercury. These remains are one of the few ovens of this type that are still left in Spain (only 2 more). It is not known exactly if they were used in the municipality.
Minas de Cinabrio | Ayuntamiento de Chóvar
