Los Alcornocales Natural Park

Cork tree groves in Andalucia © Michelle Chaplow
The cork tree groves of Andalucia

Alcornocales Natural Park

This vast park covers 167,767ha from Tarifa in the south to the Sierra de Grazalema Natural Park in the north. It is named after its handsome and beautifully kept cork tree grove, the largest in the Iberian Peninsula and one of the most important ones in the world. It is the best example of what the densely wooded, primeval Iberian forests may have been like.

 

 

The far south of the region is crossed by deep, narrow, humid V-shaped valleys, called canutos, which have been eroded by rivers and provide the ideal habitat for subtropical forests of great ecological value. Today, these forests only exist in Spain and Turkey but they used to grow in many other parts of Europe. There are over 40 species of fern in the area; one botanical jewel here is the rare fern psilotum nudum, the only other examples of which occur in the southern hemisphere. Typical canutos are those of the Gallina, Hortela and Jautor.

Information

There are three visitors' centres for the park.
Huerta Grande is north of Algeciras at Km 96 on the N-340 coast road towards Tarifa.
El Aljibe outside Alcalá de los Gazules, on the A-2228 road to Benalup at Km 1.
Cortes de la Frontera" in the centre of the Cortes de la Frontera village. For both centres, call 956 679 161.

Access

The area is easily accessible via road, the main road crossing the northern section being the A375 between Ubrique in the northeast and Alcalá de los Gazules in the west. Between Algar in the north and Jimena de la Frontera in the east is the C3331, whilst the A381 crosses the southern section from Alcalá de los Gazules to Algeciras. There are also many minor roads and forest tracks crisscrossing the park. See our section on walks, for exploring the park on foot.

Villages nearby:

Alcalá de los Gazules
Benalup
Castellar de la Frontera
El Bosque
Facinas
Jimena de la Frontera
Los Barrios
Tarifa
Ubrique

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