Moderate Important:
Warning: shared space with motor vehicles.
The Wildlife Reserve Laguna de San Juan is one of the Protected Natural Areas managed by the Community of Madrid. The surrounding area of the reserve constitutes a valuable wetland in the region of Las Vegas, located at the environmental boundary between the fertile agricultural plain and the slopes of gypsum and steppeland cliffs that mark the lower course of the Tajuña River.
The reserve is an important wetland ecosystem for numerous species of waterfowl, which use the lagoon as a nesting habitat or wintering area. The Casasola lagoons (La Lagunilla) and la Espadaña complete these ecosystems, acting as fundamental ecological reserves in the aquatic systems of the agricultural plain of the Tajuña River. These spaces stand out for their notable environmental quality and their exclusivity, as they have not been transformed into farmland.
The cycling route begins in the town of Chinchón and continues through El Valle, the traditional name of the plain of the arroyo de las Carcavillas. In this section, one can observe elements of the local ethnographic heritage, such as ancient chozos, caves, and farmhouses, historically used for the care of gardens and plantations of fig trees, pomegranates, olive trees, and almond trees.
The itinerary traverses the rural roads of Villaconejos, visits the Cueva del Fraile, dated 1734, and accesses the plain of the Tajuña via the Camino de Titulcia. The route crosses the wetlands of the Wildlife Reserve of Laguna de San Juan, which features an ornithological observatory and interpretive panels about the main species of waterfowl. The return to Chinchón is made through the slopes of crystallized gypsum and esparto of the arroyo de las Cárcavas and the Camino de San Galindo.
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place Otro The Friar's Cave is an artificial gallery excavated in the 19th century by the monks of the Order of the Discalced Carmelites. The historic rock construction has 19 semicircular arches, vents, and stone vaults inside a hill of the rural moor of Villaconejos, primarily used as a winery and storage for agricultural products. The entrance has two stone pillars from Colmenar de Oreja that support a lintel with a heraldic shield, somewhat tarnished by the passage of time.
water_drop Agua Natural endorheic lagoon declared Wildlife Reserve in 1991 by the Community of Madrid to conserve the wetland habitat as a nesting, wintering, and resting refuge for numerous species of aquatic birds and lacustrine fauna in the agricultural plain of the Tajuña River. The facilities include a birdwatching observatory in the form of a tower to contemplate the protected space. The route continues at the foot of the gypsum slopes towards the lagoons of Casasola and La Espadaña.
The Casasola lagoon or La Lagunilla is a lacustrine space created in a natural doline by the partial dissolution of the gypsum in the infiltration processes of water in the alluvial terraces, determined by the usual flooding processes in the agricultural lowlands subjected to intense land transformation due to agricultural uses. The shallow and seasonal nature of the wetland, with scarce precipitation, favors the sediment filling and the transformation of the water patina into a reedbed.
. Historic bridge on the Way of San Galindo, an ancient communication and trade route between the vega of Tajuña and Chinchón that was part of the Way of Madrid. The construction is built with limestone ashlars over the riverbed of Tajuña, is of medieval origin, was reconstructed in 1864 by the Society of Harvesters to maintain access to such a strategic passage in the Tajuña valley. It is in good condition, preserving the original pillars and parapets.
The lagoon of the Espadaña is a small endorheic wetland that completes the environmental space of the lacustrine refuges of the Tajuña valley. These small shallow water niches were created a million years ago, when the land underwent a strong tilting that drained the water from the primitive seas that covered the area and trapped the river basins, suffering intense erosion in the form of slopes, cliffs, caves, and sinkholes.
forest Naturaleza The viewpoint is an exhibition of soils, slopes, and cliffs of crystallized gypsum, whitish marls, porous clays, and other sedimentary rocks that make up the geological structure, creating a unique landscape of steppe slopes populated with esparto grass and Mediterranean gypsum vegetation of exclusive and highly specialized botanical species, some of which are peninsular endemisms of notable value, classified as priority conservation under the community directive on habitats.
