Parque Natural de la Sierra de Castril

The Sierra de Castril rises in the northeast of Granada province as a limestone massif of 12,696 hectares whose most striking feature is the canyon the Castril River has carved over millions of years. Vertical walls exceed 200 metres in places, framing turquoise pools where the water rarely climbs above 14 °C even in August. The river's source, at roughly 1,230 m, emerges directly from rock through a karst spring that keeps the flow year-round — making this one of the few permanent rivers in eastern Andalusia. On still days the sound of water striking stone echoes between the canyon walls, audible dozens of metres away.

Vegetation layers sharply with altitude. Below 1,000 m, holm-oak and Portuguese-oak woodland predominates alongside an understorey of kermes oak, mastic and esparto grass. Between 1,000 and 1,600 m, dense stands of black pine and Salzmann pine clothe the north-facing slopes under a closed canopy that admits little direct sunlight. Above 1,800 m, near the 2,138 m summit of Pico del Buitre — the park's highest point — only hedgehog-broom cushion scrub, high-mountain grassland and isolated specimens of Saxifraga erioblasta, a Baetic endemic, survive in crevices. In spring, wild orchids scatter the forest clearings in shades of pink and violet, and the scent of pine resin saturates the trails that climb the north-facing slopes.

Wildlife mirrors that habitat diversity, with more than 140 catalogued vertebrate species. Iberian ibex navigate the cliff faces with gravity-defying ease — groups of females and young are often spotted on canyon ledges at first light. Griffon vultures patrol the thermals generated by the limestone walls and golden eagles nest on inaccessible ledges above 1,500 m. In the river, native brown trout — not restocked — hold the cold, well-oxygenated upper reaches, and otters maintain several territories along the watercourse, though their nocturnal habits make them hard to sight. In the low scrub at dawn, the song of Sardinian warblers and rock buntings is a regular companion, while at dusk horseshoe bats stream in columns from the karst caves that riddle the range.

For the community of Castril — a village of roughly 900 inhabitants perched on a limestone crag at the canyon entrance — the park is part of everyday life, not merely a tourism asset. Shepherds still drive flocks of Segureña sheep to high-altitude pastures in summer along drovers' roads documented as far back as the eighteenth century. Historic irrigation channels fed by the river sustain local allotments of vegetables, almonds and cold-adapted olive trees. The local cuisine reflects that landscape: migas, gachas and charcoal-grilled Segureño lamb are the dishes served in the village restaurants.

Waymarked trails let visitors walk these landscapes without technical experience. The PR-A 336, which follows the Cerrada de Lézar gorge, is the most popular: a 2 km circular route with wooden walkways bolted to the cliff face roughly 50 metres above the river, where the passage narrows to barely a metre and spray from the water below reaches your arms. High-mountain routes to Pico del Buitre require a full day, good fitness and map navigation, but reward with views stretching from Sierra Nevada to the Cazorla range on clear days.