El Chorro de las Batuecas
To the south of Salamanca lies the valley of Las Batuecas, in the Sierra de Francia, a region recently converted into a natural park for its undoubted environmental treasures. In the 17th century, a community of Carmelites settled in the area, building the monastery of Las Batuecas and a score of hermitages for their retreat and prayer, a few of which still remain today.
- Duration: 5 hours
- Approximate distance: 9 km
- Difficulty: average
- PlaceValle de las Batuecas (Salamanca)
- Recommended time of year: November
From the monastery starts the path that, on the banks of the riverbed, leads to the Chorro de las Batuecas. The narrow path runs through the remains of the monks' old botanical garden and is surrounded by holm oaks, yews, rowan trees, cypresses, cedars, ailanthus and catalpas. Further on, you cross a small bridge over a stream, discovering a dense thicket that covers the slopes. In addition to holm oaks, you can see specimens of oak, gall oak and above all cork oak and pine trees, planted in the 1950s. The most notable wildlife in these mountains is the mountain goat, reintroduced after its extinction in the late 1960s. The dense forests are also home to the endangered Iberian lynx and the black vulture.
Following other trails, such as the one to the Cueva del Cristo, you will come to various shelters with millerian paintings, in which you can see hominids, fingers and suns, but also paintings made by the monks to sanctify these pagan enclaves. Another interesting refuge is Majada de las Torres, easily recognisable because two main streams converge here: the Batuecas and the Chorro. After visiting the cave paintings at Majada de las Torres, continue along the path until you reach the hidden spring of El Chorro and its waterfall, in the heart of the Batuecas-Sierra de Francia Nature Reserve.
