Castle of Paleras and Muela Trail, SL-MU6

This route starts with a visit to Paleras Castle (12^th century), currently in ruins. Although prickly pear trees around the castle are totally dry, it is always nice to visit the remains of a castle and imagine how its old dwellers lived. Go along the walkway of the old Mota settlement until you get to a dead end; then, go back a few meters to go up a staircase to the “Virgen de los Remedios” chapel. After going around it, you will get to the C-4 road and after some 200 meters, once on the walkway, there is a trail leading to Pliego Castle. Walk on the trail over a kilometer until you find a sign on the left for “senda de la Muela” SL-MU6. When we did this walk, we found an alternative trail on the way back.

 

"Senda de la Muela" goes along the highest part of the mountain range, with some areas fenced off and views of the ravine of Muela, Pliego and the castle. It also goes through the medieval town of Mota and the initial settlement of modern Pliego, before getting to a cross where the trail ends and there are magnificent views of Pliego from Mirador de la Cruz.

 

Get directions:

 

In Pliego park the car at the beginning of Avenida de los Castillos, a street next to the Muela ravine and the old settlement of Mota. Right before getting to this street, there is a road to the left from where you can see Paleras castle. To go up, it is necessary to look for a trail going off this road, some 100 meters after the house on the road is left behind. The first thing you will find are part of the castle ruins and then the rest of the ruins. The trail is not clearly posted, but it is easy to get the castle. To do the rest of the trail, just follow the indications.

 

Characteristics of the route:

 

Start: Paleras Castle    End: Cruz Viewpoint   Route: Linear

Distance: 5.81 Km both ways   Duration: 1h, 38m    Difficulty: Easy   Slope: 160 meters

Itinerary: Paleras castle, walkway of avenida de los Castillos, Virgen de los Remedios chapel, local road C-4, Muela trail and Cruz viewpoint.