We start from Plaza del Coso. We take the street that starts behind the Fountain of the Twelve Spouts, a cobblestone street that leads us to the football field, which we skirt on the left side, going down a small slope that leads us to a stream, which is usually dry, and where there are two considerable-sized cork oaks on the right side of the path (1).
Continuing along this same path, we find numerous plant species, such as strawberry trees, rockroses of different kinds, gorse, gall oaks, and beyond the fence, cork oaks and chestnut trees, until we reach the national road Sevilla-Portugal. We cross the road and continue straight ahead, going down until we reach the signpost of hiking trails by the Junta de Andalucía, where there is a crossroads, which we will take straight ahead, between stone fences.
Our path continues between fences with some houses, reaching a crossroads (2) where we will take the left path, we continue and a little further on, after taking a nearly 90º curve, we will arrive at the area called Valdelama, a valley with rich soil where there are numerous small farms dedicated to small-scale agriculture and extensive pig and sheep farming predominantly. In this area, there are some gates and crossroads, but we will never take any of them, and the direction to take will always be straight ahead.
The path splits, and we take the right (3), furthermore, the path we should take is marked by a directional wooden sign that will indicate the direction to follow, the path begins to narrow. We continue to see the valley, with its traditional uses, on the left and chestnut trees on the right first and fruit trees later, until we reach the Agua Rubia stream which we will cross over some stones, this means that after days of heavy rain it may be difficult to cross.
After crossing the river, there is a small slope, at the end of which there is a crossroads, which we continue straight ahead and further on we will arrive at another wooden sign like the previous one, which will mark the direction we should take. Now we will begin an ascent which, while not very long, is somewhat steep. On this ascent, we go between two fences, but due to the bushes, such as brambles, broom, rockroses, heather, cork oaks, and a tapestry of Pyrenean oaks, we cannot see them.
We reach the pass (4), which offers us a magnificent view of the valley, as well as Fuenteheridos in the background, behind us, we will also have already noticed the bench, which we will surely use. From this area, we can see some birds of prey, whose flight indicates that they are looking for food.
From the pass, the cart path, which becomes wide again, now runs mainly among pines, with some chestnut and cork oak trees, which will later be the predominant species, running between small sections of ups and downs and always without fences. Then, we begin to climb a small but steep slope, where at the end of it we will find some very characteristic stones (5), reaching the final stretch of the route that now runs between stone walls, which we will not leave until Los Marines.
In this area where we walk, we will see numerous cork oaks, from which cork is obtained, another of the forest uses that Mother Nature offers us. We will enter Los Marines through the Barrio Alto, via “the alley”, which if we continue down it will first take us to a fountain, “La Fuentecilla”, and then to the Church of María de Gracia and the Plaza de Carlos III, where there is another fountain, in addition to the Town Hall of the locality. The numbers in parentheses are indicated on the map.
Note:
Information obtained from the “Quercus Association, education and sport”.