Empty Mountains Route

The route of Empty Mountains is well known by now to everyone, and although it begins its journey and covers a large part of the province of Teruel, its extensive and varied path gives us the opportunity to venture through several of the most representative places in the Alto Tajo.

In reality, this route is not just a journey through beautiful landscapes; it aims to showcase the Spanish LaplandThe area that is now so much talked about due to the severe depopulation it is suffering from, by means of a Bikepacking route, or or bike-touring route,The main route is along forest roads and tracks, passing through many of the small villages located in the Montes Universales and the sierras of Gúdar and Javalambre.

Empty Mountains can be considered a free route, without a specific date or route. You choose when to come and do it, where to go and with whom.

The concept of free route is due to the division into multiple sections of the entire route, which are not located under the concept of stages, but that we expose a possible itinerary to follow depending on the geographical area in which we are, that is, according to the proposed route, we decide in how many days and on what roads we will circulate freely, without the condition of reaching a destination or specific place.

In addition, in order to facilitate mobility between different geographical areas, they have also provided for a number of connecting sections or shortcutsThe bikepacker can design a customised route of between 150 and 700 km in length, regardless of the starting point.

Within the Natural Park we can make numerous stages to measure, since the options are very varied, personally the itinerary that we like the most is the possibility of tracing an circular from the Source of the Tagusand then cross a large part of the Sierra Molina, surrounded by absolute tranquillity, until we reach the Martinete Bridge in the middle of the Peralejos de las Truchaswhere the section that runs inside the Tagus canyon starts and ends near Zaorejasin the San Pedro´s Bridge. From here, go up the millstone towards the Sima de Alcorón and cross the Serrezuela de Valsalobre to reach Beteta and then continue to Tragacete, ascend the El Cubillo Pass and finish the route at the same point where we started it, having covered approximately 200 kilometres.

In the case of El Señorío de Molinahave come up with the shortcut of the Castleswith a distance of 165 km, takes us from Zaorejasin the heart of the natural park, to Teruelthrough these lands full of castles and fortresses such as the Castle of Molina de Aragón or the Zafra Castle. Once in the province of Teruel we will arrive at Peracense with its imposing fortress sculpted in red sandstone and from here continue on to Teruel, bordering the Sierra de Albarracín.

On our website you can find information about the shelters y recreation areas many of which you will find on the route of the Empty Mountains through the Alto Tajo. Also, if you have any doubts about the state or opening of these, you can consult us.

Sections of Empty Mountains

Below is a table showing the main sections of the Empty Mountains route. If you visit click on the name of each section, you can download the gpx track. of each of them:

On the page "Extras"You can find ideas and tracks on the Empty Mountains website, and we were delighted to see them combined in a single surgical route the section "The Tagus Canyon + "La ruta de los Miradores", You are sure to find the one you like best. Here are some examples taken from the Official Guide that may serve as inspiration for you:

• Javalambre Loop (155 Km): L3+MV4+L4 - Short route but includes the crossing of the Javalambre massif, one of the most feared sections.
  
• Gúdar Loop (188 Km): L4+MV5 - At the height of the previous one, it includes the highest point of the route, the Peñarroya.
  
• Tagus Loop (208 Km): MV2+MV3+L1 - Lovely loop that I usually recommend as a nice introduction to the Empty Mountains.
  
• Javalambre + Gúdar loop (287 Km): L3+MV4+MV5 - Good alternative for those who on a first visit returned via the Atajo Tabernillas and missed these two areas.
  
• Loop Albarracín + Cuenca (328 Km): MV1+L1+MV3+L2 - Also a good alternative for those who want to make a first visit to MV.
  
• Loop Castles (411 Km): MV1+MV2+L3 - Beautiful route that includes passes through Molina de Aragón, and the castles of Zafra, Peracense and Los Ares.
  
• Empty Mountains + Tabernillas Shortcut (487 Km): MV1+MV2+MV3+MV4+L2 - No time to climb Javalambre on your complete route? Return to Teruel via the Atajo Tabernillas.
  
• Empty Mountains + High Tagus + Greenway (551 Km): MV1+MV2+MV3+MV4+L4 - After Javalambre you think you've had enough? Come back to Teruel on the Via Verde.

Official Guide Empty Mountains

And finally we leave you the Official Guide to Empty Mountains in Spanish, both to read it here and to download it (see below the pdf), but not before thanking and giving our full support to this initiative with which we share many ideals and to its main precursor, Ernesto Pastor for opening the doors to the world of this often unknown and unpopulated area so in need of actions with such a dynamic character as the one he has proposed in this great itinerary.

To find out all the details of this ever-growing project, visit its official website, montanasvacias.com