Huerta del Marquesado

A village in the River Laguna valley

Huerta del Marquesado lies in the Serranía Alta beside the River Laguna, with part of its municipality in the Natural Park and Valle del Cabriel Biosphere Reserve. It is a village of water, gardens and livestock. Wool and hemp supported a textile trade, and the Molino del Batán fulled cloth from at least the 16th century.

A hillfort and cave under excavation

Beside the village on Alto del Bujedal is Cerrito del Moro, a walled Celtiberian hillfort excavated since 2021. It has revealed about 20 metres of wall and a gate, and in 2023 a Copper Age slate plaque idol, the first known in the province.

The Cueva de la Mora is a small cavity with occupation from the Palaeolithic. It has unevenly burnt human remains, two dated between 2400 and 2200 BC.

The Marcha Blume

On 29 April 1959 an aircraft crashed at Collado Bajo, killing all 25 passengers and 3 crew (the town council gives 58 dead), among them gymnast Joaquín Blume. A monolith commemorates them there. Since 2006 the village has climbed on a walk honouring all the victims, about seventeen kilometres, with an offering at the monolith and return to the village; in 2022 it was the fifteenth and about four hundred people were expected. The walk is not an approved trail.

Around Huerta del Marquesado

• Las Fuentes area, where springs flow into the River Laguna.
• Paisaje Ilustrado and Piedra de San Roque.
• Prao de San Roque picnic area and Fuente del Royo.

In 2021 Huerta del Marquesado’s pine forests were among sites where Go-Resinlab tested a new resin-tapping method: a shallow drill hole instead of traditional cutting and a sealed bag instead of an open pot. It was a trial; results were not published.

There are named trees too: the Pino del Telégrafo, a Scots pine about three metres in girth and twelve high, and the Enebro de la Fuente del Pino, almost two metres in girth, enormous for a tree growing so slowly in such cold.

Routes

The PR-CU 38, Sendero de los Arroyos, a short-distance trail, is 11 km along the irrigation channel, Las Fuentes and a limestone gorge, among lime kilns, pens, salegas (salt-licking stones for livestock) and abandoned bridle paths. The PR-CU 39, Sendero de la Vega is a 7.7 km circuit through La Herrería and the Covatillas dehesa to Fuente del Royo.

Plan your visit

The village, fulling mill and PR-CU 39 fill a morning.

Before you travel

The hillfort and cave are sites under excavation: do not visit independently or collect anything. Ask the town council about campaigns. In winter the PR-CU 38 gorge may freeze.

Combine with

Laguna del Marquesado is 2 km away as the crow flies and Tejadillos 5.