Fork

We come to a fork just before the track we are going on crosses the Arroyo Martín. We left it and took the one on the left, which has a steep slope. The vegetation here is already poorer, with only black pines with white rockrose and other low bushes. The road has cobbled sections with a very steep slope. The origin of these is the road infrastructure that was built to access the areas affected by a terrible fire that in 2005 devastated some areas very close to those that we travel in this stage, and that was caused by an unusual dry storm in which Hundreds of lightning struck without a drop of rain.

The Tosero

In this place we enjoy great views towards the rocky masses of the Sierra de Las Lagunillas that can be seen in front. We pass by the ruins of the Cortijo del Tosero, which we leave on the right, while below on the left we have the Arroyo María ravine. Also to the left, in the background, we can see the peaks of the Sierra de Segura that are on the other side of the great El Tranco reservoir, which we cannot see from here. The pine that we see here is already the laricio or salgareño, better adapted to this altitude.

A little further on, some extraordinary panoramic views open to the north towards La Mancha, in the province of Ciudad Real and, closer, the mountains on the right side of the Guadalquivir (which turns sharply west from the El Tranco dam), among which Los Mansegosos and Cañada de Los Caballeros stand out. At kilometer 4.4 our track reaches a pleasant area where it flattens out and soon ascends again with increasingly wide views. In the forest there are numerous albarradas made with trunks of the trees affected by the aforementioned fire, which are fixed horizontally to the ground to contain erosion and to function as a seed bank, in such a way that the natural regeneration of the vegetation is enhanced. .

Crossing with track

At this point there is a track to our left through which it is recommended to deviate about 700 meters until reaching a point from which spectacular panoramic views are dominated, looking to the east the rope of the Sierra de Las Lagunillas in which Los Almagreros stand out (1467 m) and La Plomera (1539 m). Back on our route, the track continues to climb, now with more trees, specifically black pine.

Derivation to Caballo Torraso

We find on the left the signposted start of derivation 3 of the Bosques del Sur trail that goes up to Caballo Torraso, at almost 1700 meters of altitude. This short route, of just over a kilometer, is described in another chapter of this guide and it is highly recommended to include its route in the day to put the icing on the stage, since from the guardhouse that perches on that aerial prop it enjoys exceptional horizons in all directions.

From the aforementioned crossing, our track begins to descend gently through the repopulated black pine forest, enlivened at some points by oaks (gall oaks) and boxwoods.From kilometer 10.5, good views open up again, seeing in front, shortly before get to the Collado del Ojuelo, the Cerro de Santa María with its forest hut on top.

Collado del Ojuelo

At this point we return to the road from which we started, turning left. There is a fountain on the right and, on the right side of the road, the Casas del Ojuelo de La Parra. Just 200 meters later we leave the road, taking a narrow ravine to the right that comes out just between the road and a track that we discard. The path to follow is wide and poorly defined, but it is well marked, always going parallel to the road and at some points very close to it. A few meters away there is a ravine, which we circumvent on the left. In this last section, totally different from the rest of the stage, we must highlight the abundance of blackberry juniper, which stars in some of the most representative landscapes of the Sierra de Las Villas.

At 700 meters after starting to walk through this ravine, we come to a flat area of ??ancient crops, seeing a tinada at the top left. A stream passes through the middle, which we cross, looking at the beacon that marks the route ahead. The stream happens to be on our right and embellishes the landscape with its riverside vegetation, dominated by ash trees, willows, box trees and reed trees. About 150 meters before reaching the end of the stage we pass the ruins of a farmhouse on the right, closing the landscape in front of the elevations of La Tejera and Lancha de la Cigarra.

La Parra Forest House Refuge

The stage ends in this old forest house, part of which has been rehabilitated as a refuge and has a fountain a few meters away.