Júcar Nature Trail

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The Júcar Nature trail runs virtually parallel to the river that gives it its name, folowing for 220 km the stretch of the river in the province of Cuenca. Starting at the river's source and ending in the provincial border between Cuenca and Albacete. The River Jucar sculps, through beautiful gorges and crooked meanders, different landscapes ranging from highlands pine forests to crop covered fertil plains.

The first phase of this Natura Trail travels, through 13 stages supplemented by 4 stages or alternatives, the stretch of the rives that runs throughout the province of Cuenca.

In addition to the amazing landscapes of the Serranía de cuenca and the gores and meanders sculped by the river, the Nature Trail allows the traveler to discover the cultural and architectural resource of the region, the monumental city of Cuenca (declared World Heritage in 1996) or the town of Alarcón (declared a historical-artistic complex in 1981) as main referents.

The River Júcar (Xúquer, in valencian), known as Sucro by the romans and Xuqr by the muslims, is the traveller's companion for the most part of the Nature Trail from its sources in "estrecho del Infierno (Hells' gorge)", leaving its course only ocassionally. The firs stages runs in the Serranía de Cuenca, in a wild landscape surrounded by nature, and passing by one of the most visited places in the province, the "Ciudad Encantada(Enchanted city)".

After a little stretch in which the river valley is used by crop fields, the river is encases again in a gorge until it reached Cuenca. It is particularly recommended to spend time visiting the city. The trail enters a zone of crop lands, interrumped only when the trail runs throughout any of the mixed Mediterranean forest covered hills.

The Alarcón reservoir is the main protagonist of the next stages, the trail following its border until reaching the gorge in which the town of Alarcon is located. This town is also worth a visit. Back to the undammed course of the River Júcar, the last stages until the trail reaches de provincial border between Albacete and Cuenca run through the widely cultivated valley of the river.

The Júcar Nature Trail will grow further in the future, with the incorporation of the river's stage that runs thorough the provinces of Albacete and Valencia, until it reaches the River Jucar's mouth in Mediterranean sea, in the municipality of Cullera.