Marjal de Pego - Oliva - Rabdells

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Type of route

Circular

Estimated duration

3h 30′

Technical level

Medium

Fitness level

Hard

41.6 km circular route starting at Oliva Tourist Info and ending at the same location. The route will take us along paths, ravines and tracks to the Marjal Pego-Oliva natural park. Located in a cove between the Mostalla and Segària mountain ranges, it constitutes the southernmost coastal wetland in the Gulf of Valencia. It is a mixed space, built from geomorphological processes and anthropic action not without conflict.

The ecological wealth and the exceptional hydrological system of the marsh have led to greater environmental sensitivity and the declaration of 1,290 hectares as a protected area, both at the regional and European level. Inside the park the route will take us to the bird observatory. We will retrace our tracks to get among the motes of the rice fields and thus reach the Ullal del Bullentó. Here we can supply ourselves with water for the challenge of the route.

We will go through the most beautiful part of the park, the Salinar, the Muntanyeta Verda and the Blau del Calapatar, to return to the behavior of Sant Pere, which regulates the flow of the River Bullent. These are of vital importance for the water regulation of the park.

We will go out along the footbridge to the Font Salada or Ullal del Burro, a source of saline water with healing properties for the skin, where we can refresh ourselves by taking a thermal bath in its waters always at 24º or at the beach bar with a good soft drink.

Little by little we will leave the natural park to reach the coast and cross it from Oliva Nova to Oliva, passing through the camping area, the Dunes of Rabdells, the mouth of the Gallinera river and the Oliva promenade. Once this part of the route is completed and after the yacht club we will arrive at Vall de les Fonts, a track that will bring us back to the beginning of the route.

Information panel
IMBA Code: CAV-OLI-001

Springs

Where to eat on the route

Where to eat in Oliva

La Marjal de Pego

The marsh

La Marjal, located on horseback from the provinces of Alicante and Valencia, between Pego and Oliva; It is surrounded by the Mostalla mountains to the north, Midi to the west and Segaría to the south, a strategic horseshoe that protects one of the best wetlands on the Peninsula. Throughout its 1,250 hectares of surface, delimited by the Bullent or Vedat rivers to the north and the Racons or Molinell to the south. It was declared a Natural Park on December 27, 1994.

The marsh has also been part of the Ramsar Convention for the global protection of wetlands since 1971, it has been declared a special protection area for birds (SPA) and is part of the Nature 2000 Network of the European Union. Nature 2000 is a European ecological network of areas for the conservation of biodiversity.

The Sant Pere floodgates

5-leaf gates actuated by metallic handwheels. The gates, used since ancient times for the cultivation of rice (until 2003 they were made of wood), regulate the flow of water from the Bullent River, being of vital importance for the water regulation of the park.

Gates of Sant Pere
Gates of Sant Pere
Blau del Calapatar

The blau del calapatar

A space where the river is shown surrounded by yellow and beautiful lilies at the foot of a magnificent and generous wooded area. On the southern slope there are numerous numbered wooden platforms, assigned to fishing. Next to the wooded area there are some old ruins from the seventeenth century and a small house, in front of which there are a large number of freshwater springs, habitat of Valencian endemic species such as the Gambeta or the famous Samaruc, in serious danger of extinction as a result of the loss of their habitat, the contamination of aquifers and the artificial introduction of predators. The presence of the samaruc, practically extinct in La Safor, shows us the great quality of the river’s waters and the sources where it feeds.

The Bullent

The Bullent, a river that usually carries a large volume of water throughout the year, including in times of drought. Due to this characteristic, it is classified as the largest river in Europe in relation to its short route, just over 6 kilometers, although the upper part is an artificial channel to exit the disappeared Revuelta River, which formerly crossed the marsh.

Bullent river
Salinar river

Source of the Salinar river

It is a small river with crystal clear waters that borders the Verda muntanyeta to the south and gradually widens.

Ullal del Salinar

The ullal del Salinar is a source of fresh underground water that flows from contact with the calcareous reliefs of the Verda muntanyeta. The water obviously has an excellent quality, clear and clean, and a really low salinity, a circumstance that has allowed the presence of a very rich underwater vegetation (macrophytes), considered the best of all the wetlands of the Peninsula.

Font Salada – Ullal del Burro

La Font Salada (or Ullal del Burro), located in the Natural Park of La Marjal Oliva-Pego, is a perfect place for swimming in both winter and summer, since the water temperature is around 23 ºC in any season (always above 21 ºC and reaching 29 ºC).

Ullal del Salinar
Font Salada - Ullal del Burro
Rice paddy

Promoter

Ajuntament d'Oliva

Collaborators

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