Parque Natural de la Sierra de Cazorla, Segura y Las Villas
Just 90 minutes east of Jaén city, the Sierra de Cazorla is the largest protected natural area in Spain and one of the biggest in Europe — a vast, crumpled landscape of limestone peaks, black pine forests, rushing rivers and some 2,000 plant species found nowhere else on earth.
Wildlife and Landscapes
The park is home to one of Spain's densest populations of red deer, ibex and wild boar; dawn drives along the GR-7 trail road near the Tranco reservoir regularly produce sightings of all three within a single hour, sometimes within metres of the car.
The Guadalquivir river — the great river of Andalusia — is born here as a thin mountain stream near the village of Cañada de las Fuentes, and you can stand at its source and drink from it, a quietly moving experience given how far that water eventually travels.
Base Towns and Access
The handsome Renaissance town of Cazorla makes the best base: its castle ruins, cliff-edge church of Santa María and tapas bars on Plaza de la Corredera are worth a full evening before you head into the park the next morning.
The park's visitor centre at Torre del Vinagre (on the A-319 road through the valley) has excellent wildlife displays, a botanical garden of endemic species and staff who will tell you exactly where ibex were spotted that morning — invaluable intelligence for photographers.
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