The Cañón de Almadenes is a protected natural area in the Region of Murcia. Formed by the Río Segura, it runs through Calasparra and Cieza and preserves valuable remnants of riparian forest. In Calasparra, you can make nature trails, river activities and significant traces of prehistory and cultural history different focal points of your trip.
Hiking, rice trails and the Cañón de Almadenes
For a hike on a named route, the Sendero del Bayo in Calasparra is a good option: this circular trail is just over six kilometres long and is suitable for hiking and enjoying nature. Hiking is also available in the Cañón de Almadenes, along with canyoning and river trips. Visitors travel down the canyon by inflatable boat or kayak. As operators and conditions can change, check the current options before making your plans.
The PR-category tourist trails offer a different perspective. They run through Calasparra’s rice-growing area and along the Río Segura corridor, and are primarily intended for walking. During spring sowing and autumn harvesting, they are also used by mountain bikers and horse riders. This means the trails differ in their stated uses: the Sendero del Bayo is a single loop with an approximate length, while the PR trails are distinguished by their preferred mode of travel and seasonal shared use.
Calasparra’s rice fields are a tourist attraction at certain times of year, drawing visitors from the region and beyond. Visitor numbers can vary by season. So if you are planning your trip around the rice-growing landscape, it is worth considering the sowing and harvesting periods as points of reference, without treating them as a fixed visitor season.
Caves and prehistoric traces
The Abrigos del Pozo are located in the Cañón de Almadenes area near Calasparra. Their schematic rock paintings date from around 4300 BC and depict people, animals and symbolically significant objects. For your visit, you can use a restored prehistoric access route, a wooden walkway and a footbridge that is also suitable for people with disabilities. Check the local visiting arrangements before setting out.
At the Cueva del Puerto, a guided, illuminated route runs for 700 metres through galleries and chambers featuring different speleological formations, as well as stalactites and stalagmites. The visit includes the Sala de Minerales Luminiscentes. Considered unique within a cave in Europe, it displays around 1,500 minerals from around the world. Unlike a hike, the focus here is on a guided cave exploration, so the two activities offer distinct experiences for your stay.
Architecture, archaeology and rice history
The Santuario de la Virgen de la Esperanza de Calasparra is located in a grotto near the Río Segura. Carved out of the rock in the 17th century, the temple houses the two Marian images La Pequeñica and La Grande. In the old town, the Iglesia de San Pedro presents a different aspect of architectural history: the church is an example of regional Murcian Baroque from the 17th century. Its three-nave interior has a Latin-cross floor plan. The grotto and rock-cut temple on the one hand, and Baroque church architecture on the other, offer two clearly distinct cultural themes.
The Museo Arqueológico, housed in the Casa Granero building, preserves and displays almost 700 archaeological and natural history objects. Finds from the municipality and its surroundings range from the Paleolithic to the 13th-century Muslim culture. The museum also explains rice culture: the first floor covers the comarca’s rice-growing area, the cultivation process and recipes featuring rice as the main ingredient. It also displays historical photographs of women and men working in rice cultivation, as well as various rice varieties from Calasparra. On the second floor, heavy machinery from the 19th-century rice mill of the Condes del Valle de San Juan, tools for sowing, harvesting and collecting rice, and ethnographic objects donated by local residents have been preserved. This offers insight into rice culture through both cultivation and recipes, as well as tools, machinery and everyday objects.
Shape your stay around your interests
Whether you want to explore individual topics in depth or combine different experiences is up to you.
Discover more destinations: Lo Pagán, La Condomina, Sangonera la Verde, Santiago de la Ribera, Bolnuevo, El Espinardo, Santa Cruz, Librilla
For the overview of the wider area: Murcia.
