The best traffic-free bike rides around Huércal-Overa

The old Arboleas station was one of the small nodes of the historic Almanzora railway, built by the GSSR at the end of the 19th century. The two-story building with masonry walls still retains its classic silhouette. Although it is fenced off today, it remains an interesting point on the route, a vestige of the line that for a century connected Granada, Almería, and Murcia.

The parish church of Santa María in Albox, which was under the protection of the Virgin of the Rosary in the 18th century, was built between 1718 and 1728.

Both the name, al-Boj, and its foundation are of Arabic origin, although the area's habitation dates back to the Neolithic period.

Both the name, al-Boj, and its foundation are of Arabic origin, although the area's habitation dates back to the Neolithic period. The Phoenician presence was evident in the search for minerals, particularly silver. Later, the Roman and Islamic presence is evident in the abundance of archaeological remains found in the area.

The station has been renovated and now houses a cozy restaurant with a terrace.

Albox, with approximately 11,000 inhabitants, is located at the foot of the Sierra de las Estancias, a mountain range known for its impressive natural landscapes and popular hiking trails.

Little remains of the ruins, but it remains impressive in such a beautiful location.

The cycling trip is distributed in three established stages mainly because each day is totally different in landscapes, history and content. The first day is the Vía Verde Valle del Almanzora Natural Trail, in the province of Almería, full of railway constructions, fertile meadows of orchards and fruit trees, marble sculptures and remains of the iron ore culture that for a century was produced by tons. towards the ports of Murcia. The second stage is the Sierra de Baza Greenway, between El Hijate and the famous iron bridge of Baúl, traveling through the steppe landscapes of the Baza plateau and the edge of the filmy badlands of the Gorafe desert, famous for its magical beauty. and because in the middle of the last century they were the setting for countless spaghetti westerns. And the third day seems like another world, starting from Gor the gravel adventure enters the peaks and mountains of the Sierra de Baza through immense pine forests and oak forests to the radars of Calar Alto, exceeding the level of two thousand meters of altitude with extraordinary views of the northern slope of the Sierra Nevada, closing the loop at the Tíjola station and a section back to Arboleas along the Natural Trail. The beginning is in the San Roque neighborhood of the municipality of Arboleas, at the beginning of the conditioned section of the Almanzora Valley on the route of the Guadix-Almendricos Greenway Natural Trail. The place is a simple road crossing with a guardhouse of the old railway level crossing. The continuation of the old mining railway towards Murcia through Zurgena and Huércal-Overa is not yet ready for bicycle traffic. The small Arboleas railway stop is in the direction of Baza about eight hundred meters later, arranged with gardens on the platforms, the Natural Trail panel, signs with names and distances and a good place to park, it can be an alternative starting point. The residential neighborhoods of Las Caleras, La Perla and El Prado disguise the whitish and steppe environment of the valley slopes, formed mainly by hills of marl, gypsum and other quirks of geology that favor the development of very exclusive and curious plants known as soap dishes.