Stage 6: Arcones – Villarejo

This stage, which runs for over 21 km between La Mata and the village of Villarejo, in the municipality of Santo Tomé del Puerto, is one of the most physically demanding stages of the Cañada Real Soriana Occidental Nature Trail. The stages starts at the corresponding information panel next to the village of La Mata, in the municipality of Arcones. Shortly afterwards, kilometre point 85 may be found among medium-sized juniper trees .

After leaving behind two perfectly signalled crossroads, on which the trial just continues straight on, the road reaches kilometre point 86, by a series of pools, the largest of which never dries. At the subsequent fork the trail takes the path to the left before reaching the resting area called La Tranca de la Dehesa where a large juniper offers a welcoming shadow which invites the traveller to take a break.

In the following section, the trail goes uphill and downhill through a beautiful juniper forest. After crossing the gate that serves as border between the municipalities of Arcones and Prádena, patches of Scots pine dot the landscape besides the junipers. Kilometre point 88 is located at a crossroads, where the trail continues straight on. At this point, a new section that goes uphill and downhill beings. Fords are found at their lowest point, and some steep slopes demand additional effort and care from the traveller. The harshness of these slopes should not prevent the traveller from enjoying the spectacular specimens of juniper which have grown in this area since ancient times, and which offer a view straight out of fairy tales.

Once in the municipality of Prádena, several creeks are crossed, among which the Poyales creek and the Palancares creek are especially noteworthy. After kilometre point 89, the trail leaves behind the juniper woods and the pastures characteristic of the Cañada Real Soriana Occidental drover's way return. A new gate with a revolving door for pedestrians marks the appearance of a new Scots pine patch in the estates neighbouring the cattle road. A new uphill and downhill section beings, albeit not as steep as the previous one, before reaching a cattle grid, where two large pruned Pyrenean oaks stand out against Scots pines.

Along the next kilometre, more specimens of Pyrenean oak, which were trimmed in the past, are found, as are specimens of juniper trees. After a short uphill section, a new cattle grid has to be crossed before turning right by a wide path. Just After taking this path the resting area Vereda de la Cañadilla may be found.

Going up this path, after crossing the Quiñones river, the town of Casla can be seen as the trail enters its municipality.

The trail enters a section dominated by Scots pines and again goes uphill and downhill, sometimes becoming really steep. After kilometre point 9, a gate with a revolving door for pedestrias serves as a border between municipalities of Casla and Santo Tomé del Puerto. From that point, the localities of Sigueruelo and Siguero stand.

The beauty of the landscape stuns the traveller. The Scots pine forest lies to the right, which sometimes allow a peek of the heights of Sierra de Guadarrama in a natural frame of branches. To the left, the traveller's eyes get lost in the horizon, in a landscape dotted by the small villages of the province of Segovia.

After leaving behind kilometre point 98 and enjoying the beautiful panoramic view over the town of Las Rades, the trail becomes even a little tougher going down and then up a steep hill. Just afterwards, the trail zigzags down a properly signalled road in which the zigzag makes the slope less steep. The trail continues down to the milestone of kilometre point 100 of the Cañada Real Soriana Occidental Nature Trail, after which the trial continues parallel to the A-1 highway.

The road turns right and crosses under the lanes of the A-1 highway in the direction of Madrid. The downhill section ends at the crossing of the Duratón river. Then, the trail goes up again and reaches a gate with a revolving door for pedestrians before crossing under the A-1 highway lanes in the direction of Burgos. Once the highway has been completely crossed, the trail turns immediately right and goes along an asphalt road in a bad condition which shortly afterwards becomes again a dirt path.

A small patch of black poplar (Populus nigra) surprises the traveller. A few metres down the road, the trail turns left and goes up again to a new gate with a revolving door for pedestrians that leads to the subterranean pass that crosses the old railway line. Once the steepest part of the uphill section has been left behind, the trail goes again softly uphill and downhill, allowing to enjoy the company of the true protagonist of this Nature Trail, that is, the sheep and cattle grazing in the pastures surrounding the Cañada Real Soriana Occidental drover's way.

A few metres after kilometre point 104, the ruins of the old station of Santo Tomé del Puerto may be seen to the left. After crossing a ford, the trail turns left and a section shared by the sixth and seventh stage (which marks the end of the sixth stage and the seventh stage) beings.

The trail returns to the tracing corresponding to the sixth stage and, after the aforementioned turn left, goes down to cross the railway line by a subterranean pass, and to cross a gate with a revolving door for pedestrians afterwards. In this section, Pyrenean oak is the dominant species, and its presence is only interrupted by poplar patch by the banks of the Chorrón creek, to the left of the trail. Shortly afterwards, before entering the village of Villarejo, the traveller shall find the information panel that marks the end of this sixth stage between Arcones and Villarejo, a small village in the municipality of Santo Tomé del Puerto.