Holiday in Spain -- Walking in Tinença de Benifassà

The Costa del Azahar is best known for beaches, beaches and more beaches. There are lots of lovely walled towns and cities (like Peñíscola, Oropesa del Mar and Castellón), and the Benicàssim Music Festival, anything else?

Walking, actually.

The Tinença de Benifassà was only declared a national park (and had the trails tarted up) in 2006, so even hardcore eurotrekkers may not have heard of it.

It’s also one of the most beautiful and most remote places I’ve visited in the region.

The park is only 30 miles from the touristy beach resorts of the Costa del Azahar, but it's incredibly unspoilt with beautiful scenery.

The Tinença de Benifassà offers moderate-to-challenging hill walking on trails that pass through tiny, picturesque Spanish villages as well as gorges, peaks, valleys, and a reservoir. There are short trails between villages that can be covered in a day, and there's also a section of the famous GR7 trail (which spans the whole of Spain).

The region is near enough to the main tourist destinations to be accessible for day walks: 1.5 hours from Reus airport (served by Ryanair) and Benicàssim, 2.5 hours from Barcelona, and 2 hours from Valencia.



Here is how we did it:

Day 1:

Left the car in Vallibona (also known as Villabona – the names in the region are all marked in Castilian Spanish as well as the local Valenciano) and walked 20km along the GR7 to Fredes via el Boixar (or Bojar). The GR7 is generally well-marked with red and white flashes, apart from outside el Boixar, where we got lost and had to navigate map+compass style.

Camping is not allowed in the park, so in Fredes we spent the night at the lovely Casa Nuri (tel: +34 977 729 102). It's a comfortable guest house with a kitchen/dining room area downstairs. Nuri is very friendly and helpful, and told us a lot about the history of the area. We paid €25 for the night, including linen and towels. Highly recommended.

There are only 12-14 people who live in Fredes year-round, but the village still has an excellent restaurant: La Taberna, (Calle Mayor 17, tel: +34 977 729 152). La Taberna serves fresh regional delights like wild mushrooms, lamb, game and pork: perfect after a day's walking. La Taberna's business card also says they rent apartments.

Day 2:

From Fredes, we left the GR7 and made our way to the famous Portell de l'Infern. The trail is marked with yellow and white flashes, but not numbered, another map+compass job. After walking through the gorges, the trail winds down to a reservoir -- the Embalse de Ulldecona. There are a few picnic and swimming spots near the bridge.



For day-trippers to the reservoir: there are several marked trails around the reservoir and through the Portell de l'Infern that range from 4km (about an hour's walk) to 11km (about five and a half hours' walk). You can download a brochure about them here:

http://www.cth.gva.es/arbDin/indice.aspx?Nodo=4324&idioma=I

There is also a well-known monastery nearby, the Monasterio de Santa Maria de Benifassà, which can be visited on Thursdays from 1pm to 3pm.

From the reservoir, we walked along the Rio Cenia for an hour and a half to the picturesque hilltop village of Bellestar (or Ballestar), practically unchanged since the days of Cervantes.



We arrived in Ballestar as ominous dark clouds were forming, but luckily came across the Bar Restaurant El Bellestar de la Tinença (Calle Major 12, Ballestar - Castellón, tel: +34 977 729 100). It's a cosy place run by two sisters, stocked with books and maps on walking in the region. A jug of wine was only €1.50, which happily lasted us through the thunderstorm.



From Ballestar, it was only another 30 minutes’ walk to Benifassà, where we stayed in the Albergue La Font Lluny (Camí de la Font Lluny, s/n 12599, La Pobla de Benifassà, Castellón. Tel: +34 977 72 91 25 • Fax: +34 977 72 91 25. www.lafontlluny.com, email: lafontlluny@lafontlluny.com).

La Font Lluny is a large hostel with plenty of amenities, from €20 a night. The food was pretty mediocre, but there are other places to eat in the village of Benifassà, which is well-known for its almonds and honey. Restaurante La Morena is a good place for chuletas de cerdo -- pork chops. (Calle Mayor 12, tel: +34 977 729 010)



Day 3:

We left Benifassà and followed one of the marked trails that took us along the Sierra de la Cru, which boasts amazing views. Near the peak (the Cru) we got seriously lost and ended up accidentally wandering into the wrong valley. A bit of compass work and luck got us onto a hunter's trail that lead us back to the GR7, but not after a least an hour spent wondering if we were going to end up camping in an abandoned farmhouse (there are masses of them in the hills) and drawing lots for the last sip of water.



Back on the GR7, it was downhill all the way back to Vallibona. From there, about a two and a half hour drive to Barcelona and a nice hot shower.

It’s amazing that the hundreds of thousands of visitors to the Costa del Azahar every year barely venture into the park. The local people were very friendly and chatty, many found three young women walking in the hills a bit of a curiosity. That said, outside of the villages the countryside was extremely remote. We didn't see another hiker for the entire holiday.



Here are some useful websites about the park:

http://www.cth.gva.es/arbDin/indice.aspx?Nodo=4324&idioma=I

http://www.comunitatvalenciana.com/natura/natura3.htm?idnat=7

http://www.comunitatvalenciana.com/rutas/ingles/rint_tb.htm?nombre=La%20Tinen%C3%A7a%20de%20Benifass%C3%A1&id_campo=benifassa_ca.pdf

http://mediambient.gencat.net/eng/el_medi/parcs_de_catalunya/ports/inici.jsp

Maps:

We used the Editorial Piolet's map of El Port:

http://www.editorialpiolet.com/servlet/ProductoLibreria/LIBRO--%20el%20port%20.%2020%20rutes%20de%20BTT--IDPRODUCTO--1184--ACTIVATEMENU--null--R_IDEDITORIAL--4.html

...it’s very useful for trails within the El Port national park, but doesn't cover much of the Tinença de Benifassà. The Lonely Planet recommends the Sociedad Geológica de España's map "Morella 30 - 21".

Lonely Planet's Walking in Spain (2nd ed) offers a 5 day walk in the area, and is a very handy guidebook.

Shopping:

I bought my Editorial Piolet map and some last minute essentials at the excellent sport and mountain goods shop Evasión in Benicarló. (Escoles Cristianes 41, Benicarló. Tel: +34 964 473 987 or +34 964 474 414). The shop assistant was also very helpful and knowledgeable about the area. They stock good maps and books too.



This article is based on my personal experience -- I've made every effort to ensure it's reliable and up to date, but I will not be held liable for any loss, damage or inconvenience arising from inaccuracies.

The council's guidelines for the park can be read here: http://www.cth.gva.es/arbDin/indice.aspx?Nodo=4324&idioma=I

Follow the motto of the boy scouts: be prepared. Be safe, have fun and enjoy the park!