walkingextremadura.com
walkingextremadura.com
los pilones in the jerte valley
Start in the Plaza del Molinos el Rio alongside the Jerte River in Jerte.
1.N40º 13’ 16.22” W 05º 45’ 00.20”
Face the river and cross over the bridge. Turn right to pick up a small concreted lane. Within 250m there is a Y junction. Take the left fork.
2.N40º 13’ 08.08” W05º 45’ 01.71”
Continue up this lane as it runs straight ahead ignoring any junctions and turnings, left or right. After 800m the lane enters a wood of mixed deciduous trees. At a Y junction take the left fork again.
3.N40º 12’ 28.14” W05º 45’ 40.94”
Pass a small turning on the right descending to a woodland path — this is where the return loop will rejoin the lane.
4.N40º 12’ 12.98” W05º 46’ 02.38”
Follow the lane around as it bears to the left and starts to descend towards the Jerte river. At a Y junction go right.
5.N40º 12’ 07.96” W05º 46’ 00.92”
Leave the lane to drop down to Los Pilones carefully negotiating the rocky steps to get to the water, swimming pools and the bridge.
6. N40º 12’ 06.64” W06º 45’ 17.47”
The Jerte River, which never runs dry but is much fuller with snow-melt water in winter, crashes down from the mountains, along its narrow valley known as ‘La Garganta de los Infiernos’ (The Narrow Pass of Hell). Centuries ago the combination of small boulders trapped in the narrows and the action of water currents created a circular movement that swirled the boulders around and gradually eroded the underlying granite into basin-like shapes that are now small pools. These are ‘Los Pilones’ (top photo). The water is crystal clear and this is a favourite swimming place in Summer (photo 1). It’s a lovely spot at any time of the year, I think.
After swimming, exploring, photographing and just enjoying the area, retrace steps to return to the lane, this time going uphill (photo 2). Within 600m, turn left into the woods at the sign for ‘Jerte’ on the left.
7. N40º 12’ 07.09” W05º 45’ 35.35”
The earth footpath winds its way along the side of the valley and passes through delightful woods. As the path gets closer to Jerte there are signs of farming. Whole sides of the mountains are given over to vines or fruit trees and many hillsides are terraced (photo 3). While still in the woods, the path rejoins the original lane taken out from Jerte (photo 4). Follow the lane back down to the village and cross over the bridge back into the Plaza del Molino el Rio.
Photos: November and March
Tuesday, 11 November 2008 modified 25 March 2013
The highlight of this walk is the natural phenomena of Los Pilones, described in the text below, and the deciduous woods.
Start: Jerte on the N-110
Finish: as above
Time: 3 hours plus swimming and picnic time
Distance: 8.50 kilometres
Elevation: lowest 605m, highest 730m
Difficulty: low
Route: out-and-back with a circular loop — map by Google
information
This route is one of many combinations of the walks in this fantastic area. The Jerte Valley comes under the umbrella of the Mancomunidad Municipios Valle de Jerte and they, more than any other region, are very organised with walking routes. The routes are all well sign-posted. In addition, at times of high walker and visitor activity, guides are out in force.
The autumn is the most popular time for walking here because of the colours in the chestnut and oak forests. November is also the traditional month for walking the first part of the route that Carlos V, Holy Roman Emperor and King of Spain, took on his retirement to Yuste Monastery. That route is from Tornavacas to Jarandilla de la Vera, 28 kms, and tough. The second part of the route is walked as close to 3rd February as possible. It goes from Jarandilla de la Vera to Yuste itself, 12 kms. and is pretty easy. Over 10,000 people each year walk these historical routes.
In addition to that the Jerte Valley is world famous for cherries. The valley slopes are covered with trees. The high mountains are snow topped for six months of the year. Birds, animals, flowers, rivers, photography opportunities and other delights are all around. Enjoy!
Although some of the routes are circular, many are linear. Taxis, buses and coaches are available.
Jerte