SECTO

RP

ENIN

SULA

R C

ENTER

Sinc

e 19

93 t

he M

inis

try

for

Agr

icul

ture

, Fo

od a

nd t

he

Envi

ronm

ent’s

Nat

ure

Trai

ls P

rogr

am a

ims

to r

esto

re f

or-

mer

tra

nspo

rt in

fras

truc

ture

s su

ch a

s ra

ilway

tra

cks,

catt

le

trai

ls a

nd tr

aditi

onal

rout

es, f

or p

ublic

use

and

enj

oym

ent.

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

Sor

iana

Orie

ntal

Nat

ure

Trai

l and

the

map

fo

r th

e jo

urne

y, al

ong

with

rec

omm

enda

tions

to

mak

e th

e m

ost

of t

his

expe

rienc

e. W

e on

ly a

sk o

ne t

hing

of y

ou: d

o no

t fo

rget

to

leav

e ev

eryt

hing

as

you

foun

d it.

The

con

ser-

vatio

n of

thes

e pa

thw

ays

is a

lso

your

resp

onsi

bilit

y. N

ATU

RE T

RAIL

CA

ÑA

DA

REA

L SO

RIA

NA

OR

IEN

TAL

This

bea

utifu

l, si

mpl

e ro

ute

is l

ocat

ed i

n So

uthe

aste

rn

Mad

rid a

nd u

ses

the

form

er C

añad

a Re

al S

oria

na O

rient

al,

one

of th

e ni

ne c

attle

road

s cr

ossi

ng th

e Ib

eria

n Pe

nins

ula

from

Nor

th t

o So

uth

and

one

of t

he f

our

cros

sing

the

A

uton

omou

s Re

gion

of

Mad

rid. A

long

its

24 k

m, t

he t

rail

cros

ses

the

coun

trys

ide,

the

mea

dow

s an

d th

e ba

rren

land

s of

Mad

rid,

allo

win

g th

e tr

avel

ler

to e

njoy

the

agr

icul

tu-

ral l

ands

cape

, typ

ical

fro

m t

he r

ural

are

as o

f Br

ea d

e Ta

jo,

Vald

arac

ete

and

Fuen

tidue

ña d

e Ta

jo. T

his

will

tak

e yo

u to

a

diffe

rent

tim

e, n

ot s

o lo

ng a

go, w

hen

num

erou

s an

imal

s tr

od o

n th

ese

road

s in

thei

r sea

rch

for f

ood.

TELE

PH

ON

ES O

F IN

TER

EST:

•FuentidueñadelTajoCityCouncil

0034918728002

•BreadeTajoCityCouncil

0034918721013

•ValdaraceteCityCouncil

0034918739590

NIPO: DL:

Mad

rid

to F

uent

idue

ña d

e Ta

jo [M

adri

d]

A

WA

LK

ON

TH

E FI

ELD

S O

F M

AD

RID

1. In order to reach the starting point of this nature trail, you need to start at Brea de Tajo and follow

the M

ondéjar trail until it crosses the Cañada Real. Take

the Cañada Real tow

ards the left, and some m

eters on, you w

ill see an information panel m

arking the start of this nature trail. From

here, you can admire an agricul-

tural landscape interspersed with holm

oaks, kermes

oaks and scrubland, where the green shades of olive

tree groves, vineyards and the Mediterranean m

ounta-ins contrast w

ith the reddish colors of the barren lands, w

ith their soils rich in clay and their cereal crop fields.

2. A

fter the first crossing, you will see the rem

ains of one of the old shepherd’s shelters along the route, know

n as “C

hozo del Callejón”.

3. For m

ost part of this stage, you can see an uncultivated plot of land, dem

arcated by milestones, m

arking the tra-ditional w

idth of the Cañadas Reales: 90 C

astilian varas. A

fter the crossroads with the C

añamera trail, you w

ill see the “C

hozo del Quiñonero”.

4.

The trail goes on among crops and w

astelands with thy-

me, grom

wells and kerm

es oaks, entering the area of “Las Lom

as”. After a strong descent, the route reaches

the road of Orusco de Tajuña to Brea de Tajo (M

-229). At this point, you can stop and rest for a w

hile sitting on the benches for this purpose.

5. A

fter crossing the road, you can see the mount “El

Robledal”, a perfect example of the M

editerranean hills,

as well as “El Pozo de la Yesera” and the “C

orrales de C

alero”.

6. The trail keeps descending among helm

-oak groves and ancient olive tree groves, until it reaches a crossroads w

ith a path, where there is a sm

all rest area with a bike

rack.

7. The trail crosses the cattle road “C

ordel de Merinas”,

along the trail from C

arabaña to Brea del Tajo. You can also go back to the village using this route. The natu-re trail, how

ever, continues straight up to the road from

Carabaña to Brea de Tajo (M

-221), and, further on, up to the road to Valdaracete to Brea del Tajo (M

-222).

8. From here, the trail w

ill take you through the fields of Valdaracete, arriving at a hill w

here you will enjoy som

e nice panoram

ic views. Further on, the trail m

eets the road from

Valdaracete to Estremera, w

here you will find

a rest area. After a descent, the trail arrives at a crossro-

ads, where you m

ust go straight.

9. This point marks the beginning of the stage leading to

Fuentidueña de Tajo, passing by the viewpoint of Las

Faldas del Valle.

10. There are several ups and downs along this stage of the

trail, until you reach the crossroads with the Fuentesaúco

trail, where our trail keeps ascending tow

ard the Cerro de la M

uela. Further on, a descent will take you to the

point where the stream

s Fuentesaúco and Valseco meet.

NATU

RE TRAIL

CA

ÑA

DA

REA

L SOR

IAN

A

OR

IENTA

L

“CorralesdeC

alero”“ChozodelQ

uiñonero”,ancientmerinocabin

TheTagusrivercrossingFuentidueña

SEC

TOR

PEN

INSU

LAR

CEN

TER

Gui

de t

o th

eNa

ture

Tr

ails

of S

pain

CHO

ZOS: SH

EPH

ERD

S’ SHELTER

S

Along this nature trail, you w

ill see different types of traditional rural structures serving as shelter for she-pherds and their cattle in the long, transhum

ant travels.

“Chozos” are round or rectangular structures m

ade in lim

estone and assembled scarcely using any m

ortar. They sheltered shepherd at night and from

inclement

weather. Their w

alls were usually thick and about 3

meters tall, topped w

ith a cone-shaped roof with sm

all w

indows or openings for the sm

oke of the fires lit inside to get out.

CA

ÑA

DA

S REA

LES: CA

TTLE RO

UTES PA

CK

ED

WITH

HISTO

RY

The ‘Cañadas Reales’ w

ere cattle routes regulated by a royal edict by King A

lfonso X the Wise, and allow

ed shepherds to m

ove their cattle from w

inter to summ

er pastures and vice versa upon paym

ent of royalties. The ‘C

añadas Reales’ were alw

ays linked to the ‘Concejo Superior de La M

esta’, a very powerful cattle organisa-

tion created in 1273 which w

as granted special privile-ges that allow

ed transhumance to reach its m

aximum

splendour during this age.

Starting point

End of trail

Cabin

DetourRest area

Junction

NATURE TRAILCAÑADA REAL SORIANA

ORIENTAL. MADRID TO FUENTIDUEÑA DE TAJO

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Hoj

a d

e

Map

a .

Cam

ino

Nat

ural

de

la C

añad

a Re

al S

oria

na O

rien

tal

Tram

o lím

ite

prov

inci

al G

uada

laja

ra-M

adri

d a

Fuen

tidu

eña

de T

ajo

01

23 km

5

6

4MIDE

Upw

ard g

radie

nt

Dow

nw

ard g

radie

nt

RO

UTE L

EN

GTH

TIM

E

Har

shnes

s of nat

ura

l en

viro

nm

ent

Guid

ance

alo

ng t

he

route

Route

difficu

lty

Am

ount

of ef

fort

nee

ded

1 1 1 3

145

m41

5 m

23,6

km

5,

20 h

Prov

inci

al b

ound

ary

Gua

dala

jara

-Mad

rid

Fuen

tidue

ña d

e Ta

jo

tow

npo

int o

f int

eres

t

Cho

zo

Qui

ñone

roC

orra

les

de C

aler

oFa

ldas

del

Val

levi

ewpo

int

400

600

700

800

900

1000

510

1520

23,6

0 km

500 m

SECTORPENINSULAR CENTER

NatureTrails

Other sights of interest

Ruins

Information panel

Cattle road

Viewpoint

Monumental area

7

2

8

9

10

3

1