This short footpath called “Llano del Campo” is close to the village of Benamahoma and leads you through mixed Mediterranean woodland. It is dominated by evergreen and deciduous oaks and takes anything from around one to two hours to walk, depending on how inquisitive you are. 🙂
Birds calling from the trees include woodpeckers, nuthatches, jays, firecrests, long-tailed tits and treecreepers with hoopoes during the summer months and griffon vultures plus eagles soaring through the open skies above.
The path is comfortably shaded through the heat of summer and verdant through the winter/ spring.
The entrance to this walk can be found on the road between Grazalema and Benamahoma, this is the A 372. Pull off at km marker 37 (2 km from Benamahoma).
The site is obvious as there is a fenced off field with an area marked out for football and a small building (whose shaded area is very popular with nesting swallows in the spring).
There is ample parking at this recreational area. (The area will be busiest on weekends, so if you have a choice aim to go on a week day.) Go through the largest metal gates and head diagonally uphill and away from the road across this play area / cattle grazing pasture. As you go past the first oak trees there is another, smaller gate to pass through.
Now you are in the shade of the woods on a path that meanders through the rugged rocks. This first stretch climbs over fairly rough terrain as the water erodes this path during storms. In summer time the dappled shade is very welcome and during the winter notice how green the rocks and trees are with their covering of mosses and ferns.
The undergrowth is mainly lentisc, purple phlomis and gorse with rambling plants such as dutchman’s pipe, smilax and periwinkle.
In the spring there may be a variety of orchids on display!
The path becomes wider and levels out as you approach an old derelict farm building on your right and left handside. Surrounded by large girthed oak trees, this is the highest point and from here you descend gently to a junction onto a partially cobbled path.
From here continue to the left heading downhill – but first, a short detour can prove interesting. If you go straight across this junction onto the narrowest path it leads you through gorse bushes etc to a water trough provided for domestic livestock.
Looking into the trough and you may see fire salamanders in their earliest stages, they are like brown tadpoles with visible gills. As adults these nocturnal reptiles are an amazing yellow and black colour. During the warmth of summer the surrounding damp patches are frequented by butterflies and bees.
Return to the main path and head downhill. Here the plant life changes slightly and now include Strawberry trees, Laurustinus, Stinking iris, Dorycnium and Honeysuckle.
As this path approaches the main road you should take the narrow rock-edged path to the left which goes through a small gate and then ascends slightly under the oak trees. This brings you onto the pasture where you began, head for the main gated entrance back to your vehicle.
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