Leisure - Bicimetro

0 km

We begin our route at the Metro Valencia Rafelbunyol station on line 3. Rafelbunyol, which is 32 metres above sea level has 7000 residents and is in the L’horta Nord region. The local economy is based on fruit cultivation, some vegetable cultivation and industry.

Inside its urban centre, the parochial church of San Antonio Abad is worth a visit. It dates from the 18th century and has a three bodied bell tower as well as a Latin cross floor plan and a barrel vault. Four chapels with vaults open out at its sides.

We leave the station as if we wanted to continue straight on, and go further into the town. At the first junction, on a street called calle del Puig turn left. After cycling 300 metres we come to a small square and leave Rafelbunyol behind on our right.

1 km

Keep going north until reaching a roundabout. Take a right here. This is ‘el cami del Assagador’ from which we will soon see the La Cartuja convent.

1,7 km

On our left there is a somewhat run down farm with a metal fence. Opposite it, to our right is the path we must take. It crosses over two irrigation ditches and leaves us at the CV 3006 [the old N-340] We must take this road for 10 metres to our right [very carefully] to get to the trail we want, which will take us to the old train halt on the railway going from Pucol to Valencia. It is now a greenway called La Via Xurra.

2,3 km

We are now on the greenway painted in red and suitable for walkers and cyclists. In this stretch it goes from the industrial estate of Pobla de Farnals to Pucol.

3,1 km

We pass over the La Calderona ravine.

4,1 km

We arrive at Pucol and skirt around it on its ring road to our right and pass under the RENFE train tracks.

5 km

Roundabout. Keep going in the same direction, passing by the Guardia Civil station and cross the A7 motorway over the foot bridge from the beach.

5,8 km

Once down from the bridge, we turn left at the first junction. This is the Travessera road. We come across the cami el Brosquil and follow it to our right but leave it straight away to continue on the Travessera road that we took before.

6,8 km

We come across the  Cami Assagador, and follow it to our right and then 700 metres ahead change course by turning left at the first junction. The surface of the path worsens, going from cement  to dirt track by the 8.1 Km mark.

8,4 km

A sign placed by the local government indicates that we are now in the Marjal dels Morros. An irrigation channel marks the boundary between the path and the wetland. What we have in front of us are some shallow artificial ponds that dry in the summer, and where there are many mud dwelling birds. These shallow lagoons were once rice fields grown in the natural marsh before becoming a protected area. Now we can make them out on their south side through an area that is not flooded, but where the almost always green rush and grass shows us the proximity to the water table.  We do this by passing by a tower that has a geodesic vertex at its summit and some wooden lookout posts that let us observe the local birdlife in this nature reserve that is always flooded. In them, as in the previous ones, it is easy to see flamingos in migrating season. We continue crossing the lagoons until we reach the gola de Estany where we cross the la Ratja irrigation ditch as it empties its wastewater into the sea.

9,7 km

We are in front of the sea on la gola del Estany next to a picnic spot, which we have left a few metres behind. Now we can make out the marsh on the east following the path between the beach and the wetland. Shortly, at the 10.2 km mark, we reach the most important viewing point in the natural park.  Its an obligatory stop especially in winter when you can see many groups of different species of anatidae such as the common teal, the mallard, the red crested pochard and the shoveler, etc.

10,8 km

Beside some houses, there is a path that cuts the marsh from east to west. It is closed to motorised traffic by a chain. Therefore it’s a free road for cyclists, except for in winter, when sometimes water from the marsh can spill over and flood the path, obliging us to cycle without shoes or simply give up staying dry.  

Here, at the start of the path, and to our right there are some salty ponds with hardly any reeds to impede access where terns, swallows, plover birds, collared pratincoles and on the sandy slopes even bee-eaters nest.

In winter due to its depth, we can see diving ducks such as the pochard.

It’s worth pointing out that les Marjal del Moros is notable for its resident population of swamp hens that have sadly disappeared from Albufera. The coot has been reintroduced and the simple teal nests here. An interesting winter resident is the blue tit or the migrating crane.

12,5 km

We are in Grau Vell de Sagunt, in front of the remains of a tower–fort to the west and the black cliffs that the sea has cut out from the dross left by the now closed Mediterranean blast furnaces.

The tower is also known as ‘Torre del Grau de Murviedro’. More than being a tower, it was really a group of structures with a defensive purpose, which were extended on various occasions from the 15th to the 18th century. It has stores and stables and was part of the ‘Grau de Sagunt’ coastal defensive system. The main building is rectangular, strong and reinforced by an ashlar. Almost 10 metres in height, it has battlements, machicolation, windows and a large front door. Behind the tower there is a closed off area with a well and several minor buildings. It also has a pentagonal shaped fortified battery with the Borbon coat of arms, which was built in 1781.

On the same coastal stretch, to the north there is an archaeological site still closed to the public that has been given the maximum degree of cultural protection since 1992 when it was declared a sight of cultural interest. The site is situated on firm land and under the sea. Remains of the first Saguntine port of Roman and Iberic origin have been found.

Grau Vell is Valencia’s most important nautical archaeological site There have been 10 centuries of activity here, from the fifth century AD on.

12,8 km

We leave Grau Vell on a small, asphalt road, turn left on a brand new path, closed by a chain to vehicles, and dodge the enormous new industrial estate, which chokes the nature reserve on its north and west.

14,7 km

A Junction with the main road that skirts the marsh on its west side. We see the environmental department pumping station and meet up again with motorised traffic. We pass by an esplanade that was a military airport for the Republican army in 1937 and now serves as an aerodrome for remote controlled airplanes.

15,7 km

We reach the other side of the path, which we already know. It crosses the marsh from east to west. Logically it is closed off with a chain. In this area they have recently dug more ponds with storm water, To our right, on a hill of artificial earth a viewpoint has been constructed It is the highest in the reserve. Cross the chain to continue along the path.

16 km

We are underneath a big a Parisian pine. It is called this despite it being from Australia. From here we see more storm ponds and can follow this path to explore the immediate area. However we must turn around and go back under the Parisian pine because from here we take an easterly direction to find the road that will bring us back to Rafelbunyol.

16,6 km

We find ourselves at the entrance to the Valencian Community Environmental education centre, which was built in the old Farmhouse, Alqueria dels Frares. It has three storeys, a gable roof and a sundial .The centre offers environmental education activities for different groups [schools, associations, etc.] and also offers courses in this field and in communication, environmental journalism and rights, green marketing, etc. The building has an exhibition hall, a documentation centre, an events hall, training classrooms, a library, workshops and a laboratory.

100 metres on we take a left, which brings us next to newly dug ponds. They are deep and populated by turtles, aquatic birds and fish. They also form a barrier between the reserve and the nearby industrial estate. From the road and the ponds to the marsh there is a large extension of agricultural land, which is mainly covered in weeds. Here rabbits, hares turtledoves, crested larks and a great variety of other birds enrich the aquatic fauna of the marshland.

17,8 km

Our path is on L’Alqueria de Advocat road. You can see it in the middle of the industrial estate. The road becomes asphalted after passing an artificial gully that collects water from the industrial estate and empties it into the marjal

18,7 km

We come to the Cami Del Assegador again and take a right.

19,7 km

We pass under the E-15 [A-7] through a double tunnel and take a left.

20,7 km

We enter the urban centre of Pucol , in the L’horta Nord region. The town is only 16 metres above sea level and has a population of 16.600 people. Diverse metal and textile industries and bakeries provide the main economic activity in the town, along with agricultural production of crops and citrus fruits.

Of its cultural heritage, the Roman facade of the old church and the parish church of Los Santos Juanes [1603] are remarkable. The first belongs to the old 13th century temple of Pucol. It has three naves and still preserves its splendid roman facade that now serves as the gate to the cemetery. The second is a notable monument of ecclesiastical architecture. It has one floor and side chapels joined to the communion chapel. It has a bell tower built in ashler stone.

When we enter Pucol we must turn right and then take the first left on Movedre street to cross the town from north to south, until at the fourth junction we take a paved road called Carrer de San Joan to our left. We will come to the church, the town hall and a park that makes this part of the town very pleasant. Subsequently we will leave the town through some narrow streets always going south, until we see a roundabout on the ring road on the left that takes us to the right towards El Puig.

21,4 km

We leave Pucol on the ‘cami del Puig’, which is the first street we come to as we advance on the right, from the roundabout on the ring road that is known as ‘carrer Merce Rodereda’.

23,9 km

We enter El Puig on the north ring road and continue to the right until it curves to become a ring road known as avinguda del institute that skirts el Puig on the west.

El Puig lies 50 metres above sea level and it sits on a small hill that is known as the ‘Montana de la Pata’. Nowadays 7000 people live here. They mainly work in the industrial and service sectors. Agricultural activity is centred on the cultivation of oranges and crops.

Of its cultural heritage, the monastery of El Puig clearly stands out. It was founded in Valencia’s Reconquest era. According to tradition, it was here that King Jaime the first found an image of the Virgen de El Puig, in a crypt below the main altar. The primitive temple was converted into the present one around the year 1300. The church, with a rectangular floor plan, three naves and side chapels is covered with a cross vault. The presbytery has a rectangular floor plan and cross vault. Apart from this, it also has ‘el camarin de la virgin del Puig’, which is a chapel with a square floor plan, built between 1766 and 1780. There is also a sacristy, a chorus at the foot of the temple, a rectangular courtyard that measures 31 metres by 30, an interior chapel and a refectory. Finally, we mustn’t forget the library, which has almost 30.000 volumes and is still situated on its original site.

Also of interest is the El Puig hermitage. It belongs to the town council. The tower is a small tower with a square base and has a stilted dome with blue tiles. It has masonry walls made with reddish stone and two mosaics in the side facings. One is of King Jaime the 1st and the other of San Jorge. Before the hermitage was erected there was a simple cross on a pedestal on this sight. At the end of the 16th century the rulers of Valencia agreed to replace it for the present hermitage.

24,4 km

We leave El Puig on a dirt track that we find on the bend between ronda norte [north ring road] and the avinguda de Institut and we pass alongside the San Rafael farmstead. Shortly afterwards take the second path we come to on the left that takes us alongside the RENFE train tracks just in front of the ‘virgin del pie de cruz’ hill. Here there is also a hermitage with a lovely viewpoint. We come across the remains of a civil war bunker that the trench opened by the railway lets us see in the eastern slope of the hill.

25,2 km

Pass under the RENFE train tracks through a narrow pedestrian tunnel. We can make out the eastern side of the hill and continue along the now asphalt path beside the train tracks going south.

25,7 km

First turn on the right.

26,2 km

We come to the Via Xurra again; at the same place we started our journey and continue on it going south.

27,1 km

We pass under the CV-300 and come out on the other side at a bike path that replaces the now disappeared Via Xurra, which lies beneath the road.

27,5 km

Leave the bike path at the roundabout, turning right.
We come to another roundabout and ride through the Rafelbunyol industrial estate until reaching the entrance to the town, where we turn left in search of the train station.

28,5 km

Rafelbunyol metro station.