Route of the Borosa River

Source of the river Borosa and the Cerrada de Elías

The Natural Park of the Mountain Ranges of Cazorla, Segura and Las Villas in all its wide extension is home to a large number of places of great beauty and natural value, which are crossed by countless hiking routes. One of the most popular hiking routes in this natural park is perhaps the Borosa River Route, which runs through the Cerrada de Elías and allows us to get close to the source of the Borosa River. The route can be divided into two distinct sections, the first takes us to visit the Cerrada de Elías, being the most frequented as it is only 10 km round trip. The second section is the one that takes us from the end of the narrow ravine of the Cerrada de Elías to the source of the river Borosa, a more demanding route both in terms of slope and total distance, but in exchange for the effort, it offers us some exceptional landscapes.

How to get to the start of the Borosa river route

The starting point of the Borosa river route is on the road between Cazorla and the Tranco Marsh. It is on this road, just before reaching the marsh, where we will find the turn-off that leads to the parking area next to the Borosa River Visitor Centre. Once there, there are several parking areas, the closest to the starting point of the route is also the smallest, barely 10 vehicles, so we will probably have to leave our vehicle in one of the large car parks previous and walk to the official starting of the Borosa river path, as it is also known.

Enter your place of departure

Itinerary of the Borosa river route

From the visitor centre to the Cerrada de Elías 4.5 km

We leave the parking places and the visitor centre of the river Borosa behind us (0h 00min) to continue along the track that we came on and that borders the fish farm and crosses the river bed, leaving us at the small parking place where the route officially starts. This part of the route runs along a comfortable forest track that climbs calmly up the course of the river Borosa. Little by little we become aware of the special landscape we are entering. The stream of the Truchas is one of those places that invite us to take a short break to enjoy every corner that this natural spot has to offer.

The track takes us to the Vado de Rosales, to then reach the point where we must take leave of the path to enter the most spectacular section of this part of the Borosa River route, the Cerrada de Elías. This area takes us along an old fishermen's path, which has now been fitted out with wooden walkways that take us suspended over the riverbed. The narrow ravine of the Cerrada de Elías (1h 30min) soon comes to an end, leaving us back on the forest track that we had left before and that leads us here alongbordering the Cerrada de Elías along the side of the mountain. Here many people put an end to the route, as the signpost at this point indicates, returning along the path that borders the ravine to the detour that leads to the beginning of this beautiful section, since the path through the Cerrada de Elías is one-way, at least generally speaking.

From the Cerrada de Elías to the source of the river Borosa 5.9 Km

The more adventurous and those who are more accustomed to long and demanding treks will surely not be able to resist and will continue up the course of the river in search of more spectacular scenery. This part of the route is the most physically demanding, as the gradient is much steeper and the terrain less comfortable, but the effort is more than compensated. The Huelga Nidillo spring allows us to regain our strength to continue our route. The track takes us to the hydroelectric power station from where another spectacular stretch of the route begins. From here onwards we follow a cobbled path that climbs up the mountainside taking us past magnificent waterfalls such as the Waterfall of Three Tails. If we are lucky we will be able to contemplate it in all its splendour, although if we are, we will not be able to avoid getting wet.

After enjoying this place we head towards the entertaining stretch of tunnels and open galleries ahead of us. This part of the route follows the path that runs alongside the irrigation channel that channels the water. At the end of this section of the route, another landscape of great beauty awaits us, the one formed by the dam and the Black Water Lagoon, as it could not be otherwise since we have been following the Path of the Black Water Lagoon and Valdeazores for some time now. Here we leave the dam to one side to continue, without crossing it, in search of the nearby source of the river Borosa (3h 50min). Once we are satisfied with the scenery we retrace our steps, tempted to cross the of Black Waters dam and walk the kilometre and a half that separates us from the Lagoon of Valdeazores, knowing that we still have a long way to go to reach the parking lot from where we started, even more so if we are forced to follow the stretch of track that borders the Cerrada de Elías and that adds a little more distance to the distance we have already covered.

Coordinates UTM Datúm WGS84

Profile of the Route of the Borosa River

Cartography

This schematic with the path is approximate and has been created from the derived cartographic base © Instituto Geográfico Nacional "Cuadrante 907-4, 908-3, 928-2 y 929-1 1:25.000".