GR-142 Path

Nieles - Lobras-Cádiar

• Location: Lobras (Granada)
• Distance: 12,4 km
• Time: 3 hours and 15 minutes
• Difficulty: Medium
• Type of walk: Linear

(At all times you must follow all the white and red signs of the local path)

 Nieles-Lobras Section:

- Distance: 4.4 Km

- Time: 1 hour and 15 minutes

In a pretty nook of the town of Nieles “La Fuente de Arriba” is hidden between ivy and fig trees and next comes another supply that pours over the washing place whose pipes makes you hear the different sounds of the jet streams which lead to a pond that flows into to the gardens.

 “La Fuente de Abajo” is located next to the health centre and the pensioners’ bar. This fountain also has its own washing place and from it you can see the path to Lobras.

 The first thing along this paved path that can be found is the wheel of a mill, because an old and large grinding mill is located above us where all-around olives used to be grinded. This path leads us to the river of Nieles. After crossing it and going up the other side we can see a predominance of ash trees.

In spring we will see rockrose, gayumbas and brooms flowering and in summer we will smell oregano and thyme plants.

When separating from the river, less vegetation is found, the rise becomes more gentle and until reach a track. Below that one a ditch is buried: we will follow it. Nieles cannot be seen when we border a hill and we come into the Lobrasan area. We will go through water tanks that will lead us to a dirt track.

On the right hand is the cottage of Arcos. (Cortijo de los Arcos)

Lobras-Cádiar Section

•     Distance: 8 km
•     Time: 2 hours

It is worth getting deep into the alleys behind the square of the church, all of them covered with plants, for this reason Lobras could be called “the town of the flowers”.

In the upper side of Lobras, in El Chorro neighborhood we find the fountain near to the washing place, in front of it we take the road that goes to Las Fuentezuelas threshing floor. If we follow to the left we reach the first hill, this hill has some fig trees inclined eastward direction, and we will continue this direction until we 

reach the next hill where the Escalona lane passes. We will walk down the lane and we will take the road forking to the left, passing a cement pole light. This lane will lead us to the Albayar watercourse where the GR-7 path meets and which also goes to Lobras.

We continue going down the watercourse leading to El Guadalfeo. Here we come to a road that we take to the left to cross the river.

After crossing it, we leave the road to go up the Rambla del Lagarto. To the left side we get into El Buen Humor cottage: an old olive oil mill surrounded by olives. Behind the cottage we go up the hill. After a steep slope we cross a small wasteland and we enter to the holm-oak ground by a small fire-break. This one goes up to the Almirez hill but we border its peak taking a softer lane to the left side. At this point we have entered into what the Mediterranean forest is: the holm-oak ground with its undergrowth of rockrose and brooms.

We find a track just when we pass an abandoned threshing floor (the remains of the Zapateros cottage). We continue straight along the track until we reach the ruins of the Cayon cottage (with this name is known the hill we are walking). Here, we leave the track to take a small lane, if we continue along this lane we will find a dirt road next to an empty water tank and vineyards on the right side. We take the track to the right and we go across different crops typical from the dry area of La Alpujarra: almond, fig trees and vineyards. In front of the fig trees there is a junction that we will continue straight but if we go immediately to the left we will reach some vineyards. Above them we can see a viewpoint with fantastic views to the south side of Sierra Nevada, where ten Alpujarra villages can be seen on its slopes. Continuing our way we have a weather station, we can check temperature, humidity, amount and direction of the wind or rain data directly on the following website: www.alqueriamorayma.como/estaciones.htm). We have come to the A-348 road just where the agro-tourism center of La Alquería de Morayma is: an accommodation with dining room and a deserving to visit architecture, its grove invite us to walk around some places like the farm, the fountains or the hermitage.

Before reaching the road, next to a rural bus station, we say goodbye to the towns of Lobras, Timar and Juviles, towns that are now lost from our view. We follow the A-348 road to the left and about 5 minutes we leave the A-345 junction that leads to Albuñol and to the beach to the right side. At about a hundred meters further there is a waste transfer plant. Here the garbage that is brought from the surrounding towns is compressed and moved to Velez de Benaudalla plant. From here we follow the road about 600 meters until crossing a ravine, but to be more comfortable we will take a dirt track to the left side. This one is divided at first; we will follow to the right. Later when the track is going down the towns of Bercules and Alcutar can be seen under Los Cerros del Peñon (2754 m) and El Gallo (2919 m) hills, after that we will take.

a lane to the right side. The descent now is parallel to the road in a poorly defined principle among brooms and “genistas” (local people call them “Bolinas”) and at the end it falls down to a little precipice. We go up this path and in a few meters we go right crossing above the road. At this point we are nearby Cadiar, it is worth to follow the path and the Lobreros ditch to enter into the town, walking by the barrio bajo and visiting the flour mill which is still working on Sundays.

Source: Topoguía del sendero de Gran Recorrido GR-142, editada por ADR Alpujarra