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Northwest Greenway
 
  DESCRIPTION
Km. 0 / Km. 5 / Km. 10 / Km. 20 / Km. 30 / Km. 40  
   
This Greenway was completed in 1998. The trail is well signposted and easy to follow; only when we get diverted trough built-up areas do we run a slight risk of getting lost.

Como punto de inicio sugerimos la entrañable aldea de Los Baños de Mula.Km 0

We suggest starting at the charming village of Los Baños de Mula. At the moment it is the easternmost end of the route, although there are plans to extend the Greenway for a further 10 km as far as Campos del Río. At Los Baños de Mula travellers can enjoy the thermal waters in a number of manners at a simple but very attractive spa. The railway itself starts about a kilometre from the village, alongside the ruins of the old “apeadero” station where a small rest area has been set up.

We set off for Caravaca and shortly arrive at the first major engineering feature: a 200m long viaduct which crosses high over the Rambla Perea. Soon after we will need to take special care in crossing the C-415 rural road, a road which will be our travelling companion for the entire route, before arriving at the La Puebla de Mula railway station (Km 3). Once through the station we cross the river Mula by another spectacular viaduct.

We now travel through a particularly arid landscape, what geographers call badlands; a land with no vegetation and whose chalky top soil has been eroded by the infrequent, but torrential, rain that falls in this area. The chalky aridity of these badlands contrasts with the valley bottom which is covered with lush vegetable fields irrigated by the river Mula.

Km 5

En este punto kilométrico llegamos a la entrada Mula. Desde aquí la carretera C-415 ha utilizado el antiguo ferrocarril como soporte de una circunvalación.

At Km 5 we reach the outskirts of the town of Mula. From here the C-415 road has invaded the former railway track to create a bypass road. We will avoid the tarmac by taking a purpose-built track through an industrial estate (careful at those crossroads!). The houses of the town of Mula are close by, making this an ideal place to stop and look around.

At Km 8.4 we rejoin the road which is built on the original route of the railway and so we need to make use of some rural tracks. There are one or two short climbs as we make our way towards the Santuario de El Niño. Before long we come back to the old railway line at the Apeadero de El Niño.

Km 10
Tras dos nuevos túneles (de 200 m. y 100 m. respectivamente) se llega al Apeadero de La Luz.

Once we leave the station we follow the railway through a number of tunnels (between 60m and 200m in length). After the first two the landscape changes abruptly as we make our way between pine woods and scrubland dotted with orchards of almond and other fruit trees irrigated by water drawn from the river Mula.

After two more tunnels (200m and 100m respectively) we reach the Apeadero de La Luz (Km 17.4) before crossing  the river Mula by means of another impressive viaduct with eight arches. This leads us to the highest spot in the route, at Bullas (630m), which we arrive at after a short section along the watershed of the rivers Mula and Rambla de Codona.

Km 20
From here the trail begins to drop gently towards Caravaca. In Bullas we find the same situation as in Mula; the railway line has been taken over by the road so we make use of a well signposted route through the higher part of the town (where there are a number of steep hills). Following the signs we climb up to the top of the town, past the “La Rafa” campsite and the cemetery (Km 27.4). This is a good opportunity to take a stroll through the historic town centre of Bullas and sample the produce of the local wineries.

Km 30
Tras estas dificultades, se llega a uno de los parajes más impresionantes del recorrido, con abruptas laderas tapizadas de pinares, en el que se encuentra los espectaculares viaductos sobre el Arroyo Burete

From the cemetery we take a dirt track which first drops down to the watercourse of the Arroyo de Los Muleros before meeting the C-415 yet again. Here a tarmacked cycle path of some 700m takes us (at Km 30.6) to a level crossing hut which lets us know that we are back on the old railway line again.

Having negotiated the town of Bullas we reach one of the most impressive sections of the route. We travel between steep hillsides covered with pine trees and cross two spectacular viaducts over the Arroyo Burete (Km 31.3) and the river Quípar (Km 34) respectively. Just before reaching the second of the two viaducts we pass by the remains of the ancient Visigoth city of Begastri, precursor to present day Cehegín, which are gradually being excavated .

Km 40
Tras cruzar de nuevo la carretera C-415, en el Km. 40,5, llegamos a Cehegín.

After crossing the C-415 once again, at Km 40.5, we reach the town of Cehegín whose railway station (Km 40.9) is in a good state of repair. From here the historic town centre with its monuments dating back as far as the 15th century is in easy reach and is well worth a visit.

Some 800m past the station, the road once again invades our Greenway and we are forced to make a small, perfectly signposted, detour through the outskirts of Cehegín. At Km 42.4, having left the streets Cehegín behind us, we rejoin the Greenway proper once again, and just a little further on, at Km 43.5, we pass through the last tunnel on our journey.

Desde aquí, el camino prosigue sin ningún obstáculo hasta Caravaca, teniendo una entrada triunfal a la villa entre una arboleda frondosaFrom here we have a clear run into Caravaca where we make our triumphant entrance into the town through a leafy grove of trees. The final stretch to the old station (Km 50.5) was built over years ago, but it is easy enough to get there via some well signposted rural tracks.

 

 
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