Castilblanco de los Arroyos - La Cantina Camino de la Ruta del Agua - Guillena

As Spring 2021 hiking season is coming to end in Seville due to rising temperatures, I wanted to take advantage of a cool day to discover Parque Natural Sierra area. Luckily, the day I chose was a day after a rainy one where the soil was still damp with no dust  (which usually is a big problem for hikers at this time of the year).

I took the Castilblanco bus from Seville Plaza de Armas station. It takes less than one hour to reach our starting point and the bus fare is 3 euros which is paid in cash when boarding the bus.

Upon reaching the town we walk to main church/ayuntemiento building (remember to look-up to spot baby storks when there) and head west to find the path that goes to El Ronquillo.

Upon leaving the town limits you will be greeted with the beautiful smell of meditterenean flora along with some amazing views where seasonal flowers are blossoming.

Once we leave the town behind, the true landscape of beautiful southern Andalusia begins.

About 3 kms walk from town centre, we come across to the sign to El Ronquillo.

It being an overcast (partly cloudy) day, the lack of shade is managable (especially before noon hours). Lucky for me, there was also a slight breeeze which made the walk quite enjoyable.

After an an hour of walking along the country road, we reach a small dam (#1 of 3 today) on Rivera de Cala (Presa de Castilblanco de Los Arroyos). The view, the sounds of the water and the birds there are very impressive and quite relaxing due to overall remoteness and tranquility of the area.

This also provides a great opportunity to take a short break to enjoy the surroundings which offer some hidden gems to those who are always curious and ready to discover. Upon climbing the magical stairs (pictured above) we find this:

It is hard to say good bye to this beauty but "duty calls" and the walk must go on.

After another hour of walking, we reach Dehesa de Paula (which is a private ranch) that allows hikers to pass through. Since it is a private propery (which takes about 40mins to cross) we keep our heads down and noise levels to zero. Many beautiful creatures will be watching us with their observing eyes during our pass.

The flower of Meditterenean, Oleander!

Upon reaching the exit gates of the property, I noticed that the iron doors were locked due to bordering area being reserved by local community for recreational use (to prevent weekend picnic people from sneaking-in?). Thankfully previous hikers (or the owners of the property) remembered to provide us an alternative exit. As passing through wire fence hikers must be very careful not to injure themselves since it requires a serious balancing act.

Once we manage to exit the private property boundries, we are welcomed to a lake as pictured below. At this point the aromas and smells that have been following us transition from typical farm to the musty pine trees and fresh breeze around the artificial lake is also awesome. Many beautiful chirping birds can also be enjoyed here.

Once we ascend for about 10 minutes, we reach our mid-point La Cantina, which is a family run restaurant at the end of Ruta Del Agua (from Guillena direction).
You can rest, order food or use the facilities and most importantly, refill with the fluid of your choice to stay hydrated which is very essential for any type of walk or hike.
Also a pat on the back is in order since you have walked for 3 hours, approx. 13kms. Yay! 💥

From the restaurant, there are 3 options to reach the town of Guillena where you need to take the bus to Seville:

1. Hitchike/car share - asking restaurant patrons to give you a lift for about 30mins to the town of Guillena (recommended),

2. Walk the same route as the cars pass (on the same road) which is called "Camino de la Ruta del Agua" for approx. 12+kms to Guillena (second best option),

3. Walk the original route, following the path "la Ruta del Agua" along the Embalse de Gergal which is about 22kms in total (until the bus stop in Guillena) with many twists & turns and amazing views along the way (not recommended-unless you are determined and have the endurance/experience),

We of course took the 3rd option and continued our journey along the Embalse Gergal which is another 4-5 hours of walk to the town of Guillena.

Who says Seville doesn't have any  beaches. J/K it is stricly prohibited to swim or float in the dam (although some local kids were enjoying it to its fullest).

On a clear day like ours it is possible to spot many Seville landmarks from afar.

Upon walking about 16-17 kms we begin hearing faint vehicle noise and we sadly realize that our escape from civilization is coming to an end soon since we have reached the end of our track.  Along with cars, from this point forward, some human noise is also present. 😓

Once we exit the parkgrounds we are back on to the country road aptly named "Camino de la Ruta del Agua-same road in the Option 2 as mentioned" and we still have to walk about 40mins to Guillena town center where we will take the bus to Seville.

You will be walking along many sunflower fields and solar-farms on this country road. During winter/spring months you can also spot many baby goats in the fields where solar farms are situated.

Black thingys are acres and acres of solar panels.

Well after walking/hiking for about 8-9 hours and 35+ kms in total, a well deserved shower and a couple days of good rest will be our constellation prize along with many great memories collected which will provide much needed inspiration for our future hikes.

Hasta proxima!

⚠ Things to note:
1. The paths are easy to follow and they're flat country roads mostly so, a light and comfortable pair of hiking shoes or boots with properly cushioned socks should be adequate (bring spare socks/t-shirts to change). Also, since at no point you will be walking on any type of rocks, grass, fields with plants (no risk of ticks, insects) etc., one can wear shorts if desired.

2. There is very limited shade all along the hike, therefore; proper sun protection is recommended. Ideally this route should be enjoyed during winter/early spring months on a clear and dry day where you will appreciate the sun better.

3. The only obstacles in this route are in Dehesa de Paula. During my pass these were:
1) 🐕a very enthusiastic guard dog/puppy? which was unleashed and roaming freely near the house (which is only limited in a 50m. strip of the walk since the path in front of house is also gated and fenced),
2)  at the end of the property the gates were locked and you need to pass through a wired fence. 

To mitigate the dog risk, one can carry some snacks for dogs or if you are one of those dog whisperer types who can magically calm the poor animal, you should be OK. Since I am not blessed with such superpowers, in my case, I had to apply a trick which I learned from a cult movie (The Gods Must be Crazy II) by making myself appear big as I raised my hands (in a semi-attacking bear pose) while sending commands to the poor K9 to calm itself which seemed to work (this time 😅).

4. I have also documented on my previous blog entry (An Escape from Seville to Pure Nature: Ruta del Agua - Guillena) as to how to commute from Guillena to Seville and walk from La Cantina to Guillena, in detail (which should provide you a clear idea as to how to return back to the town of Guillena and eventually Seville, Plaza de Armas using local bus service (which costs under 2 euros in 30mins). You can refer to my detailed write-up here.)

5. You can also follow this same hike with downloadable turn-by-turn directions on my Wikiloc entry (EN Castilblanco de Los arroyos-La Cantina Ruta del Agua Guillena (English).

I hope this blog post has been useful and will also inspire you to go outdoors to get lost in the nature.
If you have other places in mind please mention them in the comments or contact me if you like to share with others using this blog.
If you've tried this route and want to share tips, give more advice or make corrections, please use the comments section and/or send me a message.