Sierra Subbeticas Geopark

A year or two back Jan and I spent a summer holiday checking out Geoparks in the Iberian peninsula: we visited Cabo de Gata and then two in Portugal but unfortunately we missed one out. As we drove across from Almeria to Cordoba we passed through the Sierras Subbeticas Parque Natural, a mountainous area west of Granada. Late in the day when we arrived in this lovely area we sought a campsite so that we could go to the Santa Rita visitor centre the next morning. We drew a complete blank: campsites (when we eventually found them) had closed down and, sadly, with darkness approaching, we had to carry on to Cordoba, and then into Portugal.

A view of Algarinejo from the road towards Priego de Cordoba

Looking west from the mirador there's a view of beds of Jurassic limestone
dipping to the north; the steep scarp slopes picked out by yellow broom

Back again in Andalusia in April 2013 and with a Sunday to spare, we headed north from Huetor Tajar, through Algarinejo and Priego de Cordoba before turning west into the Subbeticas. The minor road wound through steep hills and deep valleys bright with spring flowers. Groves of evergreen oaks and fields of olives were fringed with the pink flowers of cistus, along with poppies, vipers bugloss and the ubiquitous wild mustard.We spotted a few local birds on the way: a hoopoe and some azure winged magpies and several hundred blackbirds!

Nasrid watchtower

Nasrid watchtowers punctuated the skyline, a reminder of times when the caliphs ruled here; towns basked in the warm peaceful sunshine of a spring Sunday and the landscape became craggier and more dramatic as thick beds of limestone appeared above the olive groves. The Priego to Lucena road is wide and fast, a treat after the curving contours we had been meandering around. It heads through a gap in the high hills and the Santa Rita visitor centre lies close to the top of the pass, marked by a striking metal sculpture of an ammonite, the fossils for which the area is famous. There are several blocks of Ammonitico Rosso containing ammonites

Ammonite sculpture at Santa Rita

Fossil ammonite in a block of Ammonitico Rosso

Another fossil ammonite: an internal cast which
shows the divisions between the chambers

The exhibition is attractive and informative and there are various local products for sale on a small scale thoughsadly no T-shirts in my size. The restaurant seems to be undergoing a makeover so we forewent coffee and ate our sandwich, washed down with water, in the car.

A couple of marked trails lead uphill on the south side of the road so we followed one uphill through scrubby bushes and were thrilled to see the small yellow orchids Mick had shown us the previous day, as well as some Mirror Orchids, a small red vetch and Southern Daisies.

Yellow Bee Orchids and Mirror Orchids

Vetch

Mirror Orchid

Rather than return the same way we headed west towards Lucena before turning off through Rute and Iznajar, and skirting the western side of the Subbeticas thrust sheet before crossing over the reservoir and then driving along its southern side back through Loja and home

Looking north from Santa Rita

View east towards Priego de Cordoba

The carretera on the way to Iznajar was very definitely cortada
but luckily a desvio was well signed

Iznajar Embalse

Limestone strata dipping south at Iznajar