Ministerio de Agricultura, Pesca y Alimentación

This stage leaves the River Algars behind to follow the ravine of La Tremolosa in search of the valley of Ulldemó, a small river that flows into the Matarraña in the village of Beceite, the final point of the stage. In this village the route reconnects with Stage 1 of the trail, thus completing the circular formation that has taken the traveller through three provinces in two autonomous communities in the almost perpetual company of either of the two rivers that lend their names to this Nature Trail.

At the intersection of the highway to Arnes with Calle Onze de Setembre, we take the road to the right, passing along a detour towards one of the old snow wells of the village (located at a height of around 400 metres, within an olive grove in the outskirts). The street of Onze de Setembre changes its name to Calle Aragó near the information centre of Arnes, located in a former oil mill.

After 200 metres on this road, we turn left, leaving behind the last houses of the village and walk for a few metres along the road that leads to Toll de Vidre (7 km away), a picturesque section of the Algars canyon where the river has dug a pool with a small waterfall and which is currently equipped as a bathing zone.

After passing by a livestock holding, we come to a fork where we leave the road to Toll de Vidre and take the path to the right which descends to the ravine of La Maria. The road then ascends and the olive groves begin to give way to evergreen oaks and pines, with the River Algars accompanying us all along the route.

The final change of province, so frequent in earlier stages, takes place at more than 2 km into this section, when we cross the Algars for the last time, by means of a concrete bridge along a dike with a stream gauge near the enclave known as Toll de la Verdura.

After a gentle ascent, now on the Teruel side of the river, the trail turns left and continues through a similar landscape of pines and evergreen oaks, with the occasional olive grove on the river bank. We advance until we come to a bridge on the ravine of La Tremolosa, the main highlight of the following section of the trail.

From this point onwards, the Nature Trail bids goodbye to the River Algars, its faithful companion during the last 3 stages, which continues flowing to the southeast while the trail takes the southwest route. After a fork where we take the path on the right, the trail begins to slope upwards, going around an olive grove. The landscape is now densely forested by pines with Mediterranean undergrowth, and the occasional evergreen oak.

The trail descends after crossing another olive grove, in search of the ravine of La Tremolosa. It leaves the forest route to the right and takes a dirt road straight ahead. From now on, the ravine to the right of the trail will be our constant companion and we begin a continuous ascent that only stops at the end of the ravine.

Half a kilometre later, the forest path is exchanged for a pedestrian path (from here onwards, the trail is no longer suitable for bikes) that extends for the next 2 km. This is the hardest section of the entire stage (with the exception of some sections in Stages 1 and 2 of the Nature Trail) both due to the incline (a maximum of 7%) and due to the road surface, its limited width and the loose earth.

For the first 400 metres we continue to pass through the aforementioned pine groves but then we come to a section 300 m long where the land is almost bare and we must be extremely careful as the walls are steep and the fall on the right of the road may be dangerous. On at least two occasions we must walk over rocks (extreme caution is required if they are wet) instead of earth. Even so, the views of the valley created by the ravine are well worth the effort and precautions taken.

For the rest of the pedestrian path we are no longer accompanied by the ravine of La Tremoloso that continues to the southwest, as the path turns to the south, now with views of the Peña Galera peak. After a somewhat demanding final uphill climb due to the fact that the soil may be quite loose, we come to the end of the incline at a wide and firm forest road.

We now descend gently but constantly, and the landscape becomes a pine grove similar to that of the earlier section, later substituted by olive groves and subsequently, fruit orchards.

The trail continues along the ravine of Coll d’en Selma for 3 km, which is barely noticeable except for the presence of riverside vegetation. Now firmly in agricultural territory after passing by a poultry farm and some livestock holdings, the trail comes to the River Ulldemó flowing along the right for more than 1 km along a path that is now paved.

We cross the River Ulldemó by a concrete ford with pedestrian sections and proceed through livestock holdings and orchards, ignoring all detours on both sides of the trail. One of these detours (750 m from the river crossing) lets us access the highway to reach the area called La Pesquera, where the enclosed River Ulldemó forms various pools that are suitable for bathing.

The trail finally arrives at the first houses of Beceite, near a parking lot and a fountain, and continues through Calle Llana until it enters one of the picturesque streets of this town. Although the trail continues towards the junction with Calle Diputación, it is worth approaching the square where the town hall and church are located (it is usually a good idea to walk around the narrow streets of the city’s old quarter).

We leave the old quarter by Calle Villanueva, underneath an arch that leads to Calle Ronda, where this stage of the Nature Trail of Matarraña-Algars comes to an end, and after 12 stages and more than 150 km, finally reconnects with Stage 1.