Walking by the Lucena del Cid River, Spain

Hello everyone. Last week we decided to take a walk along the Lucena del Cid River, located about 30 km away from the capital Castellón de la Plana, following the path of the old watermills. We made our way down to a small mountain river and followed the scenic route around it. As we got closer to the river, we saw olive trees and vegetable gardens below. The river was being used for irrigation and the workers were busy in their gardens. The river itself may be small, but it has beautiful coves and swimming areas. After it rains, the river can rise quite a bit, sometimes overflowing the bridge and flooding the area.

I continued along the path and began walking the La Ruta de los Molinos de Agua, the route of the watermills. People here are growing lemons. To explain briefly how the watermills work: Water flows down from above and the devices next to the millhouses manage the flow. On December 15, the weather was 11 degrees, a bit chilly. But this is actually quite normal for this time of year.

We reached a rest area by the river, where there was a table. There's a beautiful cove here and it's possible to swim. I had swum here the last time I visited, of course, when the weather was warmer. A bit further along, there’s another area. At that time, we had climbed a little higher up from the river and there were other tables and we had followed a stone path. The depth was a few meters, much deeper than a person. This was a cove, but honestly, I don’t know its exact name. From here, many people were jumping down, but I wasn't planning on joining them, not in this season

You can sit on a bench in the shade and relax. There are also other paths, including mountain routes. There's a bridge, too.

We kept going and up above, you’ll find the Lucena del Cid houses. There's a Spanish company that builds new homes at affordable prices. I also recognized some familiar buildings, even though they aren't listed in Idealista. These were vacation homes, but I didn’t take too many detailed shots. Smoke was coming out of the chimney, so they were probably cooking meat.

We walked a bit further from the river. The local cats didn't want to run away because they live in the houses around here. These streets are theirs.

We continued along the road, passing olive trees, forests and pine trees... I can’t send you the scent through this post, but you can probably imagine it. The atmosphere was amazing.

There are lots of different routes. During the summer, spring and autumn, there were many tourists, but now it’s quieter. Still there are some tourists around. The mountains here keep the temperature from getting too hot compared to the coast and it cools down at night, so it’s quite comfortable. This is something tourists take advantage of. Actually we weren’t far from the beach, only about 35 km. You can reach it by both car and bus, all the way to the beach.

We started heading down toward the river. There were mountain goats around, which can be hard to spot, but I was lucky enough to see a few. I think people here grow cabbage, along with other crops. We approached an old bridge and they say the water is pretty deep there. I haven’t seen it myself, but it’s definitely true. People do jump off from here, as the water’s deep, though it looks clear, which can give you the wrong impression about how deep it really is.

We went up a mountain path, but there were barriers for safety, probably so people wouldn’t slip or fall, especially with children. We reached a spring, where people come to get water. They use this water for cooking and drinking. The house near the spring is known as Carlos’s House. I don’t know who Carlos is, but it’s said that the house now has two owners.

Then we came across a path leading to other houses. As I mentioned, some are used year-round, while others are just for summer. We kept going and preparations for the celebration were underway. Even though it was winter, I was still spotting flowers along the way.

The sky started to get darker. As we got closer to the river’s source, the water became shallower. As you can imagine, different streams join together along the way. We crossed over some stones to continue. We started heading back via the other path. I think it was a really nice walk. I hope you enjoy it too. See you soon.