Stage 15: Camino Canal - Sabinosa - Pozo de la Salud
Description
Towards Pozo de la Salud
From the picturesque houses of Sabinosa – in the most typical El Hierro style – the Nature Trail ends at Pozo de la Salud (Healing Well), along the coastline, a place renowned for the healing properties of its waters that has become one of the most visited tourist resorts on the island of El Hierro.
In the vicinity of Sabinosa, from a vertical directional sign post that indicates a change of direction, there is a path that ascends to this village. We will first go past a number of scattered farms until we reach the main square at Sabinosa, where there is an information panel that gives us directions to reach Pozo de la Salud.
Sabinosa, with its ancient but well preserved houses in the purest El Hierro style, is, without doubt, one of the most picturesque villages of the island. A number of small wooden crosses – most of them bearing a date and some initials – are placed in niches carved in the stone of the walls surrounding the old houses. These are called “crucitas de difuntos” (“small crosses for the dead”), and were placed there when someone died. For this reason, the older houses display a larger number of these crosses.
After leaving Sabinosa, the first meters of the Nature Trail run along a road until we reach a junction with a path - the first of several such paths – that shortens the distance we should have to cover by road but greatly increase the slope of the trail.
Stairs with wooden or stone steps have been installed in order reduce the hazards for hikers. We will enjoy splendid views of the coast and of Pozo de la Salud on our descent along a dark colored dirt path.
The last leg of this section of the trail follows a paved track that descends a hillside with crop lands until it returns to the road that leads to Pozo de la Salud. A small ramp between the road and the square, overlooked by the hotel of Pozo de la Salud, marks the end of the last section of the circular trail.
Profile
MIDE (Method for the Information of Excursions)
Harshness of natural environment- 1. The environment is not risk-free
- 2. There are more than one risk factors
- 3. There are various risk factors
- 4. There are quite a lot of risk factors
- 5. There are many risk factors
Guidance along the route- 1. Well defined trails and crossings
- 2. There is a clearly marked trail and signage
- 3. Requires the identification of geographic features and cardinal points
- 4. Requires off-path navigation
- 5. The trail is interrupted by obstacles that have to be gone around
Route difficulty- 1. Walking on a flat surface
- 2. Trails with different types of path
- 3. Walking on stepped paths or irregular terrain
- 4. The use of hands or jumping over the terrain is necessary
- 5. The use of hands is required to progress
Amount of effort needed- 1. Up to 1 hour of continuous walking
- 2. Between 1 and 3 hours of continuous walking
- 3. Between 3 and 6 hours of continuous walking
- 4. Between 6 and 10 hours of actual walking
- 5. More than 10 hours of continuous walking
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Further information
Pozo de la Salud
In close proximity to Sabinosa, along the coast, stands Pozo de la Salud (“healing well”) whose waters are said to cure many diseases. The waters of the well have a steady temperature of about 38 degrees Celsius and are rich in chlorides and sodium, with a high content of sulfates and bicarbonates, and with a high level of iron, potassium, lithium, phosphates, ammonium and silicon; they are also slightly radioactive.
The first name of the Pozo de la Salud was Pozo de Sabinosa (Sabinosa Well), and it was drilled in the seventeenth century within the framework of systematic attempts to find underground drinking water on the coastline in order to give an answer to the problems created by the severe droughts and water shortages suffered by the island. Even though the water extracted from the well was brackish, it was used to water the animals and, in course of time, it was found that the people who drank from the well had better health and resisted better epidemic outbreaks.
In 1830, Don Leandro Casañas Frías established the healing properties of these waters, which were accordingly declared mineral and medicinal waters and whose fame reached the other islands resulting in the creation of a spa. A century later, in 1949, the waters were classified by the Government as an asset of public interest. At present, the area has a modern spa hotel - built on the ruins of the old spa - which has become one of the most visited tourist resorts of El Hierro.
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