Hiking in the Sierra de Aracena
Feel history in the heart of nature
The north of the province of Huelva, at the foot of Sierra Morena, is home to a region that meets all the requirements to be a privileged destination for hikers and travellers: the Sierra de Aracena and Picos de Aroche. Its more than 600 kilometres of trails, vestiges of the old network of rural roads and cattle trails, will allow you to discover this immense territory that has maintained, over the centuries, a traditional way of life and in permanent communion with nature. Visitors can enjoy this environment through a carefully selected range of rural hotels and restaurants, which will make your journey along the paths of the mountain an unforgettable experience. The Sierra de Aracena and Picos de Aroche form the westernmost foothills of Sierra Morena, between Portugal and the province of Seville. It is made up of a succession of picturesque landscapes that stretch as far as the eye can see. Lush forests and endless pastures, among which stand out white villages with an architecture and history treasured for centuries. The people who populate this region have always lived in perfect harmony with the privileged environment that surrounds them.
It is a vast territory with more than 1,800 km2, with 60% of its surface protected due to the importance and quality of its natural and cultural values. The region is made up of a set of gently sloping mountain ranges, where the highest peaks do not reach a thousand metres in altitude, and between which flows a dense network of rivers, streams and creeks of great beauty and ecological value. This blessing in the form of water is due to the abundance of annual rainfall that the entire area concentrates, and which has given rise to a traditional river architecture in the form of dams, weirs, mills or wash houses.
The dehesa is the most representative ecosystem, and consists of the clearing, carried out by man over the centuries, of the original forest. The result is large areas covered with holm and cork oaks, with patches of gall oaks in the shady areas and valleys. This wise alliance between human need and nature constituted in the past, and continues to be so today, a rational form of livestock, forestry and agricultural use. In these dehesas of the Huelva mountain range, the Iberian pig is raised extensively, or in “montanera”.
Another activity traditionally linked to this system of exploitation is the collection of mushrooms after the first autumn rains. Gallipiernos, tanas or tentullos, among many other mycological species, attract numerous visitors to these places.
Nature offers a unique chromatic spectacle in the Sierra de Aracena and Picos de Aroche in each season of the year. The forested masses of ancient chestnut trees, which are concentrated mainly in the central, higher and more humid area, provide a palette of various reddish, ochre and green tones. On the banks of the water courses and in the most humid and shady areas, gallery forests of poplars, aspens, alders, ash trees and wild rose bushes are formed.
The Sierra de Aracena and Picos de Aroche are entirely crossed by old rural roads, which have been a true umbilical cord for the people of the area until modernity replaced them with fast asphalt roads.
The entire region has cattle trails, royal or local roads, paths, cattle tracks and cattle crossings, which serve to link one town with another, to move livestock, or which lead to farms or other places of interest. The traditional use of these roads as a means of communication has given way to a use more closely linked to recreational and sporting activities. Their heritage value, together with the beauty of the landscapes they traverse, make them one of the main tourist resources of the Sierra. Currently, more than 600 kilometres of the Sierra de Aracena and Picos de Aroche are marked as trails of varying difficulty and length. Although there are several long-distance sections (GR), most of them respond to the criteria set by the Spanish Federation of Mountain Sports as Short-Distance Trails (PR), with an average distance of between 5 and 12 km. They usually respond to circular routes, which start and end at the same point, or to routes between one town and another. In addition, the Junta de Andalucía has marked 24 of these trails with explanatory panels. Those listed here are intended, without being exhaustive, to show the most representative areas of the Sierra. Similarly, we have tried to describe trails that can be covered in a day, and that are of low or medium difficulty, and are within the reach of any visitor.