Parque Natural Sierra Norte

The Parque sits in the triangle formed by Zafra, Cordoba and Seville and is mainly used for the production of olives and the raising of pigs and sheep. It is made up of wooded hills and valleys with fast flowing streams, small villages and few roads.

The Via Verde that runs past our site is a walking/cycle route of 18km which was developed along the route of a old rail link from a mine at Cerro del Hierro. The railway closed when the mine closed 30 years ago. It follows the river from the Seville- Mérida main line to the mine at stands at around 750m. There are a number of these routes around Spain and we hope to walk some more.

Wednesday dawns bright and clear and we set off to walk the 22km to the mine and back. It is fairly easy going but will prove a challenge for us as it is a while since we have walked such a distance. The birdlife en route is quite amazing and the Spring weather has certainly meant that there is much to see so as we walk, we need to stop quite frequently and use our binoculars. During the morning we spot a number of birds that are new to us, the crested tit, woodchat shrike, subalpine warbler, black-eared wheatear. Plenty of redstarts, crested larks, swallows, martins and stonechats are feeding and blackcaps are singing in the trees.

We meet a few cyclists on route but otherwise it is quiet and arrive at the mine in time for lunch at the thoughtfully provided picnic tables. A road runs close by and two coaches are parked up. Soon we hear the voices of school children and spot them marching back from their visit to the mine and heading for the picnic tables to start writing up notes on their visit. We take that as our cue to walk the few hundred metres to the mine and pass derelict buildings and rusting machinery amongst the spoil heaps before we reach the hole in the ground from which iron ore has been extracted for many years. While we are at the mine a black stork puts in an appearance.

As we leave to start our walk back we see the children leave in their coaches. An hour and half later with the sun full on our backs we reach a small village and decide to take a detour to explore. We hear the laughter of youngsters and who should be in the recreation area but our friends from the mine. They have realised that we are English by now and so like to try a few words – “hello”, “how are you?” We are in luck as there is also a small bar and “dos cervezas” are very welcome as we watch the teaching staff finish their coffees and start to round up their charges.

Back onto the Via Verde and a gentle downhill walk back to the campsite where we report on the state of our feet and take hot showers to ease the aches and pains.

The weather is just perfect for a bar-b-que and we can enjoy the warm evening watching bats feeding amongst the trees.