Mapa:
Route from Alfaro
- 1 h
- 4 km
Exit the Plaza de España, where you can find the interpreting centre and the San Miguel Collegiate Church, and walk to the Natural Reserve down Argelillo street. When you reach the end, continue on San Antón street until you reach the beginning of Paseo de la Florida and cross the bridge over the Alhama River. A little after, at a road split, take the one on the left (Ebro street), leaving the one that goes to the railroad station. Cross a bridge over the railroad tracks and take the path after the second crossroads to the left. The path continues among orchards and, after 500 metres, it turns sharply. Continue straight down a smaller footpath that crosses an estate. This path is being prepared for public use at the Natural Reserve. It leads to a trail that runs along the retaining wall next to Soto La Nava. On the trail we turn right and go parallel to Chorrón de La Nava, a water stream without entrance or exit, created by the water dynamics of the Ebro River. Down this path you will reach the bird observatory, where there are great views of the river and the waterbirds, different depending on the time of the year. From here there is the option to continue the path next to the retaining wall and go to Soto del Estajao, traversing the Estajao Meander, which is longer. Nevertheless, to go back to Alfaro, you must take the path that leads away from the retaining wall. A little after, it borders a fluvial terrace higher than the plain on the left. On this path you will pass through a wide car and bus parking area of the Natural Reserve. Continue next to the wall of the old sugar factory, which is nowadays a winery. When you arrive at the entrance of the winery, the path turns right and you will immediately reach the path on which you came from Alfaro. Now, go back along the path that you already know to the city centre of Alfaro.
Town centre in Alfaro
Green trail in Alfaro
Soto La Nava
Bird observatory
Bus parking lot
Town centre in Alfaro
Señalización
- Path signage
Puntos de interés
Natural values
Banks at the Ebro River with traditional vegetable plots, poplar groves and remnants of well-preserved natural copses, with willows, poplars, aspens and ashes. Of special interest is the La Nava copse, with a wide riverbank area next to the Ebro River, quite important for water birds. Riverbank copses are the habitat of two animals which are included in the Regional Catalogue of Endangered Species: the European mink and the freshwater blenny. Apart from being a Natural Reserve, this area is included within the land under the Natura 2000 network (Ebro copses and riverbanks), designated as a SCI (Site of Community Importance) with the same denomination.
Información turística
Interpretative Centre for the Sotos de Alfaro Natural Reserve
Plaza de España (s/n). Alfaro (La Rioja), Spain. Phone and fax: 941 182 999.
Schedule:
Summer (from 9 June to 30 September). Tuesdays to Saturdays from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. and from 6 p.m. to 9.30 p.m. Sundays and holidays from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.
Rest of the year (from 1 October to 8 June). Wednesdays to Sundays, including holidays: from 9:30 a.m. to 2.30 p.m.
Alfaro Tourist Office
Plaza de España 1. Alfaro (La Rioja), Spain. Phone: 941 180 133.
Schedule: Tuesdays to Saturdays: 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. and 5 p.m. to 8 p.m. Sundays and holidays: 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. Closed on Mondays.
Website: www.aytoalfaro.org
Find information about where to stay and eat out in www.lariojaturismo.com
