The province of Teruel has beautiful towns and spectacular nature full of hiking trails. One of them, which combines canyons, river trails and natural pools, is the one that connects the towns of Montoro de la Mezquita and Aliaga. It is an impressive path that runs through a canyon that until recently was impassable and which is one of the most beautiful places in the Aragonese province.
The tour can begin from Montoro de Mezquita, located in the heart of the Teruel Maestrazgo. It is a district that belongs to Villarluengo and has no more than a few houses and a dozen people. From the district we walk to Las Eras, where a sign takes us to the Strait of Valloré. For a kilometer we travel along an abrupt river path with high walls and pools drawn by the waters of the Guadalope River, a tributary of the Ebro.
This trail has 200 meters of walkways that the whole family can walk, as they do not entail any difficulty. At the end of the path we find a valley where a second strait begins. From here you can go up to the Valloré Viewpoint, which has an impressive panoramic view that includes the view of the town, the profiles of the mountain and even the flight of vultures. From there starts a circular route of an hour and a half.
From this point you can also visit the cave paintings of Cantalar and the hermitage of San Pedro de la Roqueta, where every year the towns of Villarluengo, Pitarque and Montoro come on a pilgrimage.
On the other hand, you can continue with the course of the river and reach Aliaga, the closest town. This has been plausible since 2023 when the Maestrazgo was connected to the Mining Basins through the creation of Guadalope walkways in some of the sections of the route. Previously, it was virtually impossible to access the canyon. Thanks to this you can enjoy a place with an important landscape, fauna and geological richness.
Weather forecast and appropriate equipment
But you have to plan the route of this trail that covers 23 kilometers until we reach the mining neighborhood of Santa Bárbara. To do this, it is essential to check the weather forecast and wear the appropriate equipment.
To do this we will need good quality hiking shoes, a hiking backpack, clothing adapted to the weather, sunglasses, a hat and sunscreen, a hydration and food supply system and a navigation tool, such as a mobile phone. Optionally we can also bring walking sticks and a backpack cover in case it rains.
If the entire route is done, it is about five and a half hours walking, although it can also be done in sections. On this long route we find the Strait of Las Tajadas and downstream the Órganos de Montoro, one of the five natural monuments of the Maestrazgo region.
You will also walk through the Aldehuela dam, the impressive La Hoz Mala gorge, the old Tosca flour mill and the Boca del Infierno, already in the Mining Basins.
In the case of the Órganos de Montoro, we find a geological exception that is more than 200 meters high. These impressive calcareous spiers were born in the Cretaceous period and were formed as a result of the action of water, ice, wind and river erosion, giving rise to this unique formation. To get the best views, the ideal is to be on the road that runs between Ejulve and Villarluengo, on the Casa Mazuelos hill.
The name of this geological whim is due to the fact that the rocks form a kind of organ pipes. It is also surrounded by a legend of a fight between the gods in which the victor, to celebrate, accumulated stones to build a sacred valley and sculpted a huge organ for which seven symphonies were composed.
Upon crossing the Boca del Infierno we can continue along a comfortable path that connects with the Straits of Valloré with its bridges and walkways.
Aliaga, for its part, is a town of 450 inhabitants, located at 1150 meters of altitude. Its parish church of San Juan Bautista, from the 17th century, has a slender bell tower. After crossing a Roman-medieval bridge over the Guadalope River, rises the Sanctuary of the Virgen de la Zarza, a baroque construction in which the façade with two side turrets and the interior decoration stand out.
The traditional economy of Aliaga was agricultural and livestock, until the industrial revolution when coal extraction took center stage. The Santa Bárbara neighborhood was a consequence of the mining development of the Aliaga area between the decades of the forties and sixties. Santa Bárbara evolved at the same pace as the thermal power plant, becoming a proletarian neighborhood.
Another working-class neighborhood was La Aldehuela, built at the end of the 1940s to house the workers of the thermal power plant. Currently, “the reservoir has become a nesting place for birds that have found an excellent refuge in the reed beds on the banks,” according to the City Council website.
The thermal power plant came into operation in 1950 using water from the reservoir for its cooling system. It obtained coal from the mines using wagons transported by overhead cables. Although a third generator was integrated, the mines in the area were unable to supply enough coal and the fuel finally had to be transported by road from other neighboring mining basins. The plant closed permanently in 1982.
To get to the Valloré walkways from Teruel you have to take the N-420 and the A-1403, a journey of one and a half hours by car. On the other hand, to get there from Zaragoza it is two hours on the road and you have to take the A-222.
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