Sierra of Mariola
GR 7: "Venta Boquilla - Alcoi"
The long distance footpath GR 7 (known as E4 in Europe) starts in the temple of Delfos, in the Peloponnesse (Greece). After going through Bulgaria, Serbia, Croatia, Slovenia, Italy, France, Andorra and Catalonia, the footpath goes into the Valencian Community through the small village of Fredes. Then, it goes through the most emblematic mountains and later on passes through the municipal area of Pinoso. Finally, the footpath ends in Tarifa, after having covered more than 6,000 km throughout the Mediterranean region.
Part of this long footpath goes throughout La Vall d'Albaida region. We would like to offer you a brief description of it, therefore we recommend you the following route.
The GR 7 (E4) crosses the municipal area of Ontinyent, takes the track to the Pla de la Barama and arrives at the Casa del Port. Later on, it goes down to the Alianda, crossing the road CV 660, which goes from Fontanars dels Alforins to Ontinyent.
The
footpath continues down to the Assagador del Pla and goes through the
ravine of the Loma Rasa crossing an iron bridge with the same name,
which has a vertiginous height. Here, the ravine has a vast biological
richness. When it arrives at Can Tomás, the GR 7 leaves the track
to go down the ravine of Morera.
After going up the ravine again, the footpath crosses the road from Fontanars to Ontinyent through the Umbría and arrives at the Fuente de Morera, a fountain with abundant water throughout the year.
Then, it continues its route to the Corral de Martines, leaving the House of Morera on the left. Later on, it goes down the ravine of the Vall Seca and arrives at the Fuente de la Teula and the Venta Vella.
Opposite this house there is a track which goes towards the sierra and crosses some dry plots until it arrives at the "Senda dels Enginyers" (Enginyers' path). This track runs through the slope of the Umbría. When the GR 7 arrives at the ravine of Ballester, it leaves the Enginyers' path and goes towards the Fuente de Ballester. Now the path passes the Casa de Ponce and arrives in the municipal area of Bocairent, to the Casa de l'Oliva and the Casa Bonavista. The Sierra of Mariola and the Valleta d'Agres – Alfafara are the background of this beautiful landscape.
Once we have crossed the road CV-81 and the Barranco del Portell, we go into the area of Sierra Mariola, which has recently been declared Natural Park. There we find the chapel, the house of Santa Bárbara and the Fuente del Pla. The path is now better and links with a forest track which runs among pines and holm oaks. It arrives at the Camping de les Fonts de Mariola and later on to the Fuente de Mariola, which has been turned into recreational area.
We go now through the last stretch of the footpath. Once the GR 7 passes the Vall d'Albaida region and the Masía dels Arbres, it goes deep into the region of L'Alcoià and later on into El Comtat region, looking for a mythical peak: the Montcabrer.
This is an interesting footpath from the landscape point of view, as from the Solana (sunniest part of the mountain) and the Umbría we can see farmsteads in the centre of the region and different fountains, such as Rulla, Morera, la Teula, el Moro, Ballester and Mariola, which have water throughout the year.
Forest recreational facilities:
Camping areas:- Font de Mariola (Bocairent)
- Chapel of San Esteban, the "Pou Clar" and the Fuente de Gamellons (Ontinyent)
