Barranc dels Horts

The Barranc dels Horts is a deep ravine in Ares del Maestrat municipality, in the Alt Maestrat, covered by an old oak wood of holm and common oaks. Its star is the Roure Gros, a monumental oak several centuries old below the crags of the Font dels Horts.

The woodland

The ravine keeps a sample of what the inland Mediterranean forest once was, with thick specimens and stone terraces along the riverbed. The regional tourism guide cites it as a botanical treasure on the way between Benassal and Ares, and the forest estate has its own guides to its singular trees. The same municipality of Ares keeps World Heritage rock paintings, and the cultural park links them with nearby Muela de Ares and Morella.

The route

The classic walk leaves Benassal for the Old Oak: 7.8 km out and back with 202 m of ascent, easy difficulty and about 2 and three-quarter hours of walking. The path drops between walls and holm oaks to the spring and the oak, and returns the same way. You can only get there by car, as far as Benassal or the farmsteads around Ares.

Tips for your visit

• Stay on the path and do not touch the bark: this is a protected woodland.
• Carry water and an extra layer: the ravine floor is cool and damp.
• No fires anywhere on the site, as on all Valencian hillsides in summer.
• Start early at weekends: the area gets busy.