Cycling route: Gil Cobo Recreational Area - Llanos de Jabalcaballo

Coming from Chilluévar, continue past the Aguascebas reservoir for about 8 km and then turn right at km 28 onto a secondary forest track or path where the road crosses a stream known as Aguascebas de Gil Cobo. This is where the route starts. You can also arrive at the starting point if you are coming from Charco del Aceite.

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NAME OF THE TRAIL

TYPE OF TRAIL

The Gil Cobo campsite to the Cortijos del Pardal farmhouses

Circular

STARTING POINT

ALTITUDE (M)

1178 m

END POINT

ALTITUDE (M)

The same

1178 m

ITINERARY:
GIL COBO- CERRADA DE SAN GINES- LANCHA DE LA ESCALERA- LLANOS DE JABALCABALLO- CORTIJO DEL PARDAL

TOTAL DISTANCE (IN METRES): 11300 (ONE DIRECTION ONLY) )

Asphalted or cement sections (in metres)	% del total %
Forest track or trail or dry riverbed (in metres)	% of the total 100%
Trail Sections (in metres)	% of the total %
Sections of Livestock Routes (in metres) - Green Route	% of the total %

SUITABILITY FOR CYCLING (%)

100%

TYPE OF TRACK SURFACE (i.e. ROCKY, SANDY)

Sandy and rocky

MAXIMUM ALTUTUDE GAIN: 286 M

Accumulated ascent	476 m
Accumulated descent	279 m

TYPE OF ACCESSIBILITY

Cycling and hiking

MAPS

Topographic maps of ANDALUSIA published by ING (the National Geographic Institute) (1:25.000):
PAGE 21

WAYPOINTS (IN CONSECUTIVE ORDER FROM START TO FINISH)

Short Name	Description	Coordinates	Elevation [m]
1	Start - Gil Cobo	30S x=509107 y=4214671	1288
2	Cerrada de San Ginés	30S x=509642 y=4214119	1365
3	Junta de los Arroyos	30S x=509787 y=4214016	1341
4	Fuente Colorá	30S x=509268 y=4213487	1445
5	Tiná Serbal	30S x=509215 y=4213988	1440
6	Poyo de los Robles	30S x=508515 y=4213706	1574
7	Arroyo de la Fuente del Tejo	30S x=508280 y=4212323	1443
8	To Cortijos de la Cañá del Avellano	30S x=507833 y=4211202	1425
9	Cortijos la Berraza farmhouses and spring	30S x=508211 y=4210948	1415
10	Cortijo el Pardal	30S x=508418 y=4209450	1474

DESCRIPTION OF THE ITINERARY

The trail starts at the Gil-Cobos Campsite and Recreational Area on the right bank of the Aguascebas stream and rises up along a secondary forest track heading south-east. After 800 m you come to Cerrada de San Ginés, one of the loveliest spots along the route, where the track is closed in by vertical rocky outcrops formed by the Lanchas del Lobo on the left and the Lancha de la Escalera on the right. The area is surrounded by deciduous forests, pine trees, riverbank wildlife and birds of prey.

Leaving the outcrops behind, you come to a fork in the trail where the stream divides into two branches. Turn right (facing the direction in which you are heading) to go up a steep hill for the first few metres until you come to a sharp bend. Immediately after you arrive at a drinking fountain made of masonry and some stone tables. This is Fuente Colorá, at 2.1 km from the starting point. 600 metres further on you come to a tinada – a shelter for livestock – known as Majalserbal, which rises above the rugged and beautiful Lancha Ignacio outcrop. The other rocky outcrop, which descends from the tinada to the beginning of the narrow stretch known as Cerrada de San Ginés, is called Lancha del Sordo.

After 4.4 km you arrive at the top of a hill. This is the highest part of Lancha de la Escalera (Torcales de la Lancha de la Escalera), in an area also known as Poyo de los Robles. From here you have panoramic views of the hills of Úbeda, where you can pick out several villages in the distance and the Sierra Mágina massif. You are nearly 1600 m above sea level and the vegetation is characteristic of the Nature Reserve's high mountain woodlands, featuring broom, Corsican pine and a few ilex.

This is the highest point of the route, which goes downhill from here. The loose stone track full of potholes winds downwards in a series of bends until it enters the Jabalcaballo flatlands. From there on you go through a unique karst landscape all the way to the end of the route. You will come across several brooks on the highest part, including Arroyo del Raso de la Escalera and Arroyo Fuente del Tajo, as well as a patch of bulrush wetlands known as Fuentecilla de los Buitresat at km 6.7.

Further on, at km 8.2, you go past a track on the left leading to other farms in the Cañá del Avellano ravine and also to the Jabalcaballo farms. Bear left until you arrive at the Berraza farmhouses at km 8.8, where there is a fountain. From there on, the track's surface is rougher and bears right, leaving Peña Corba on your left.

You arrive at the Cortijos del Pardal farmhouses at km 11.3. We recommend climbing up to the top of the peak on foot. At 1578 m above sea level, it affords a magnificent panoramic view of the surrounding area. The return trip follows the same route but in the opposite direction.

ELEVATION PROFILES