Georuta 7: Taravilla Lagoon-Salto de Poveda-Peralejos

<< Stop 1: The route starts at the old wharf on the Taravilla Lagoon, where there is a panel, which can be easily reached with our vehicle by a dirt track with its ups and downs, along which we We will drive carefully.

The Taravilla lagoon is the most important wetland in the Park. Its origin is natural and is the result of the circulation of groundwater and the processes of dissolution and precipitation of carbonate rocks (karstification), which in turn is what allows the lagoon to maintain a permanent sheet of water. From here, the excess water flows out through the front overflow and falls towards the Tagus River. In its fall, travertine forms as a barrier that causes the dam to grow naturally as the lagoon fills up with sediment from the nearby streams and brooks.

<< Stop 2: Next to the jetty there is a path that goes around the lagoon. Walk along it for five minutes and you will find a plaque on the right, on top of the tuff. Before continuing along the route, you can take a look at the spillway tuffs. To do so, take the track that goes to Peralejoswhich immediately forks into two. Take the right-hand branch, which descends towards the river, and you will reach the spillway.

<< Stop 3: We take the track that leads to Taravilla and after a few bends we come to a panel. Here we have a much wider view of the lagoon where we can analyse the landscape much better than the shape.

<< Stop 4: Next to the panel is the start of the Route 8 of the Natural Parksignposted with purple markers. Follow them for 10 minutes and you will find a signpost just opposite the Poveda waterfall. This and the next four stops can only be done on foot in less than 2 hours. 

From this point we enjoy a good panoramic view of the artificial waterfall of Poveda de la Sierra. This waterfall is due to the containment dike of an old hydroelectric power station that never came into operation. Even today, the remains of most of the elements that made up the power station are still preserved, such as the dam, the spillways, the power lines and the staff barracks, now converted into tourist accommodation.

<< Stop 5: We follow the purple markers for approximately 300 metres until we find a plaque in a meadow. We will see a spectacular section of a anticlinal fold. Erosion of the limestone layers has exposed their internal structure. The rocks in the centre of this fold are older than those forming the flanks. It can also be seen how the central layers are thinner than the outer ones, which has allowed the fold to be symmetrical and very tight.

<< Stop 6: We continue walking for another 10 minutes until we find a viewpoint equipped with a railing where a plaque is located. We will find ourselves in the spot "Hoya de la Parrawhich constitutes a abandoned meander of the Tagus River. Due to its large dimensions, this landform is not easy to observe in the field. In any case, the best place to see it is in the Taravilla Lagoon.

<< Stop 7: We continue along the path for another 10 minutes until we reach the river level and reach a bridge. On a rocky outcrop just before crossing the river there is another plaque. From here we have two options to return to the wharf: to retrace our steps (40 minutes) or to cross the river over the bridge and turn left to reach in 15 minutes the Casas del Salto.

This second option will allow you to see a different perspective of the waterfall and even take a break. But to get back to the jetty from there you will either have to walk back the way you came (1 hour) or you will have to wade across the river, which is only feasible in summer, as there is no bridge. To do this, after passing the houses of Salto, take the path that goes down to the river and cross it (you will have to take your shoes off), arriving at the lagoon in a few minutes.

From the footbridge we can observe the slopes and escarpments that delimit the valley. Its profile is conditioned by the resistance to erosion of the rocks present on the slopes: limestone and dolomites that are resistant in the upper part of the escarpment, where dissolution processes can be observed that give rise to karstic formations of the stone city or enchanted type, such as towers or sentinels.

<< Stop 8: From the wharf we take the track in the direction of PeralejosYou can either go by car or by bike. A signpost is located at a viewpoint with a handrail 9 kilometres further on. The route takes us into the interior of the Tagus river canyon, offering us landscapes of spectacular beauty. In the last stretch of this track, the river cuts into the hard limestone in a spectacular way, almost disappearing into the depths of the valley. This process is not exclusive to the Tagus River, but is also present in its tributaries, as is the case of the Horcajo ravine.

<< Stop 9We continue along the track until we reach the crossroads with the road. At this place, known as the Martinete BridgeAt the end of the route, there is a panel at the end of the route. From the bridge we can observe the enormous leaks produced by the erosion of the river over hundreds of thousands of years. This is an ideal place to appreciate the morphology of the canyon carved out of the limestone and to observe the rupicolous birds of prey that use these cliffs at the foot of the Muela de Utiél as a suitable nesting or roosting site.