Valbona: Trails, Water and Culture

Valbona is the starting and finishing point of the Valbona–Ermita de Santa Bárbara–Valbona circular hiking trail. The route is 4 kilometres long and takes approximately 1 hour and 10 minutes. Another route, the Circular por el embalse de Valbona, begins in Parque de Valbona and is almost 12 kilometres long. The different route lengths provide a clear basis for comparison when planning days with varying amounts of available time.

Hiking Trails

The local Valbona–Fuente y Azud de Los Piquillos–Molino La Puebla–GR-8 trail runs through a riverside landscape with poplars and willows. The GR 8 towards Camarena begins at the Portal de Valencia; at the Fuente de los Santos, the section to Valbona branches off. A signposted botanical educational trail begins at the Museo de Valbona and passes by the Arco de la Tejería.

Nature

A well-maintained dirt road leads to the dam of the Embalse de Valbona. There is a recreational area and a viewpoint overlooking the water. From the Mirador de la Calera, you can see Valbona and the valley of the Valbona River.

The Azud de Piquillos is located on the Valbona River. An irrigation channel runs along its right bank and once carried water to the Molino La Puebla mill. The first construction phase of the Azud de Piquillos, built from dressed stone with Gothic features, appears to date from the late Middle Ages. Peñarroya, Javalambre and Pina are mountains in the wider regional surroundings of Valbona; the Fuente de la Zarza is a spring in that area.

Culture

The parish church Iglesia parroquial de San Antonio Abad is Baroque and dates from the 16th to the 17th century. The Museo de Valbona is dedicated to the natural history and ethnography of Valbona and the Gúdar-Javalambre comarca in Teruel.

The Arco de la Tejería is a dressed-stone arch over which the Acequia Mayor crosses the Loreto–Los Barranquillos ravine. The Batán de las Alcafas recalls Valbona’s pre-industrial textile production. The Ermita de la Virgen de Loreto is a Baroque, single-nave chapel from the 16th century with a portico of eight columns, built in masonry and dressed stone.

The side of the Portal de Valencia located within the city walls preserves a flat dressed-stone arch; recesses for locking the gate remain in the jambs. The Portal de Valencia can be dated to the 14th century. In the wider regional surroundings of Valbona, the Museo Aragonés de Paleontología, the Museo Histórico, the Museo Provincial de Teruel and the Torre de El Salvador are museums.

When choosing a holiday apartment in Valbona, you can use travel dates, room category and cancellation conditions as comparison criteria. Personal travel plans can be matched against the thematic focuses of trails, bodies of water and cultural sites, and weighed at your leisure.

Other Places

Also, Cella, Villarquemado, Mas de las Matas, Alcañiz, Urrea De Gaén, Fuentes De Rubielos, Tornos and Cedrillas are part of the wider selection.

For the higher-level travel overview: Teruel.