Stage 12 Branch: El Picazo - provincial boundary Cuenca-Albacete

This branch starts on the outskirts of El Picazo, just before crossing the N-310 road. Although this section of the road is considered a crossing with the corresponding speed limit, great caution should be taken when crossing as, on the left-hand side, the curve of the road reduces visibility. Once you have crossed the road, the path enters a wide dirt track that runs through the fields of cereal crops and fruit trees and vineyards of El Picazo. A good example of this agricultural vocation is the presence, right at km. 1, of an irrigation channel that runs towards the river Júcar.

This track leads to the path along which the Cañada Real de Andalucía runs, which is taken to the left, in the direction of the San Benito bridge. After half a kilometre you reach this bridge (whose origin dates back to the 15th century), which takes its name from the shrine on the other side of the river, on a promontory offering magnificent views of the Júcar valley.

Once on the left bank of the Júcar, the Nature Trail turns south, again passing through crops, but this time with the company of Mediterranean scrub on the slopes to the left of the path and the odd country house. This landscape remains the same for the next few kilometres, with the track running close to the river at times. One point at which the Trail approaches the Júcar is next to La Losa, a village belonging to the municipality of Casas de Benítez whose origin is linked to one of the traditional uses of the waters of the Júcar, the flour mills. Today a weir dams the waters of the river and serves a small hydroelectric power station.

Continuing through the same landscape described above, after crossing the Cañada stream, you reach the ruins of Los Nuevos, an uninhabited village belonging to the municipality of Casasimarro. The Los Nuevos Agro-environmental Centre has been created around this village, with rest areas, environmental itineraries that allow visitors to look out over the river, and access has even been provided to see the ruins of another of the flour mills that were built on the banks of the Júcar, in this case at Los Nuevecillos. As is the case at La Losa, near this mill there is another weir for a small power station.

The route continues along the river, passes under the viaduct of the CM-3124 road and, after less than a kilometre, reaches Las Ovejas bridge. This simple structure, which crosses over the riverbed, will take us to the right bank of the river, on which we’ll stay until the end of the route.

On the other side of the river, after almost a kilometre, the track becomes a footpath for another kilometre. Cycling can be dangerous here because the path is very narrow and the road surface is very uneven. Along the footpath, amidst the Mediterranean scrubland, the Nature Trail rises in altitude, providing beautiful views of the Batanejo gorge and river Júcar. Looking at the river you can also see the weir that diverts its water through a channel to the hydroelectric power station at El Batanejo.

Half a kilometre after leaving the footpath and returning to the wide track, we reach the Casas del Batanejo, a hamlet of Villalgordo del Júcar that has been converted into a centre for farming and rural tourism, recovering buildings from the 17th and 18th centuries.

After leaving El Batanejo behind, the route continues through fields of crops (vineyards on one side, cereals on the other), crossing some patches of pine forest (Pinus pinea) and passing by farm buildings and some rural accommodation. This leads to the crossroads with the CM-3114 road that leads to Villalgordo del Júcar, a town notable for being the second village in Spain to have electricity.

Just after crossing the road, the ruins of the Gosalvez palace stand out on the left-hand side of the road. This Versailles-style palace complex was commissioned in the early 20th century by the Gosálvez family, who were responsible for the industrial development of Villalgordo del Júcar from the mid-19th century. Despite being declared an Asset of Cultural Interest in 1993, it is still in ruins, although its restoration is planned.

The remainder of the route is again completed by passing through crops, farm buildings and some patches of pine forest, although in the last two kilometres the vineyards and cereal crops are replaced by large expanses of irrigated land, especially alfalfa.

The branch line ends after almost 23 km in a small pine forest, on the provincial border between Cuenca and Albacete. Although the route ends at this point, the town of Fuensanta, in the province of Albacete, is just over 3 km away.