Route 3: Cobeta - Barranco del Arandilla Gorge

<< Stop 1: From the people of Cobeta a road leads off to the Castle Keep. In five minutes of ascent, enjoying magnificent views of the surroundings of the village, you will reach the tower where the starting panel is located. Here we can admire the landscape shaped by erosion over time and the adaptation that man has had to this type of environment.

<< Stop 2: We leave Cobeta along the track that heads towards the Hermitage of San Antonio. Two hundred metres from the exit of the village, on the slope of the road, there is an outcrop plate. We recommend that you walk there, as there is not much parking space.

Here we find the two types of gypsum that appear in the Upper Tagus, on the one hand red gypsum and on the other fibrous, colourless and white gypsum, which have the same chemical composition but their internal organisation changes, giving rise to very different physical aspects.

<< Stop 3: Continuing along the track, you will reach the Ermita de San Antonio hermitage. After about 400 metres you will find a plaque on the slope of the track. This walk from the village of Cobeta will take us a little over an hour and a half to get there and back. The path winds along the right-hand side of the valley and cuts through the Keuper gypsum and clay formation and some Quaternary deposits of foothills and alluvial deposits. If we look at the slopes of the path, where the gypsum and clays outcrop, we can find two very significant mineral species in the Upper Tagus, the aragonites and the Compostela hyacinths.

<< Stop 4: We return to Cobeta and leave with our vehicle in the direction of Molina de Aragón. Three hundred metres from the Cobeta exit there is a lay-by on the left, where there is a panel showing how man has taken advantage of the geological resources of the area to solve basic issues for his life, such as the construction of lime kilns or millstones.

<< Stop 5: A few metres further up the slope, next to the tile kiln, there is an outcrop plate.

<< Stop 6: Continue along the road to Molina. After passing a pass, the descent begins until you reach a bridge over the river Arandilla, where you take the track that goes off to the left and where there is a car park. Although it is possible to continue with the vehicle up to the vicinity of the Montesinos HermitageWe recommend you park it here to reach the Hermitage by taking a pleasant walk along the Barranco del Arandilla ravine. Just over the bridge, a couple of hundred metres further on, you will find a plaque.

<< Stop 7: We continue walking towards the Hermitage until we arrive, in 10 minutes, at the recreational areaThere is a panel where we can find more information about the processes that took place in the formation of this beautiful valley.

<< Stop 8: At the height of the Ermita we find a log bridge that crosses the river Arandilla, which leads us to the foot of some escarpments where there is an outcrop plate in the place where a waterfall used to fall.

<< Stop 9: We return to the hermitage and continue walking for ten minutes, going up the course of the river along the path that enters the valley. After crossing a concrete bridge you will see an old mill, where there is an outcrop plaque. We recommend that you continue along the path for a few more minutes to reach a meadow at the foot of the sandstone escarpments, where our route ends. Looking up at the rocky escarpments, we can watch carefully for griffon vultures, which find the perfect home in these hollows.