As you may or may not now, my parents have an appartement in Spain, not far from Valencia. Because I will be spending more time in Spain I plan to explore more of the region.
My first hiking trip was the La Ruta Raco del Duc trail also known as Via verde del Serpis near the town of Villalonga and not that far from Gandia.
A little bit of history
The La Ruta Raco del Duc trail is a part of an old railway which was used between 1892 and 1969 between Gandia Harbour and Alcoy. This railway was used to export textiles and paper. They used English coal to power the mills. The railway between the two towns was 53km. The La Ruta Raco del Duc trail is located between Villalonga and L’Orxa, where the train also stopped. You can start from both towns, but we started from the town Villalonga.
Fun fact: Each locomotive is named after a station served by the railway. You can still visit two locomotives. The “Villalonga” locomotive is located in the Al-Azraq area of Alcoy and the “Cocentaina” locomotive is located in Gandia.
The La Ruta Raco del Duc trail
It is an easy walk with amazing views. Besides walking you can also take your mountain bike to explore the trail. We only did half of the trail because we were walking and we had to walk all the way back as well. But when you are on a mountain bike you can definitely do the whole trail.
The cool part about this trail is that you walk thru tunnels and at some parts it is pitch black! So don’t forget a flashlight! Oh! And some water and snacks.
Besides the tunnels you will also pass old buildings, waterfalls, see the Serpis River and walk over bridges.
Starting from the ‘car park’ you walk down a small hill for about 5 – 10 minutes until you see your first sign, you will find a couple signs along the way, at this sign you turn left.
Right away you will see two roads. Take the road on the left side.
A couple meters into the road you will see your first tunnel. From then on you just follow the trail and enjoy the scenery.
The tunnels
The scenery
We were lucky with the weather this day. It wasn’t too hot and the sky was so pretty. I could just stand and enjoy this scenery for a while.
Parts of the railway
Along the way you can still see parts of the railway and buildings they used. I like seeing ruins and let my mind wander.
We walked all the way to the old flour mill. Rested for a bit, drank and had a snack. After that we walked all the way back. But you can also keep walking to the town L’Orxa. We didn’t do that today but I want to do it one day and discover more about this beautiful place.
How to get there
The walking trial is located between Villalonga and L’ Orxa.
If you have a GPS I would recommend putting in these locations: 38°52’31.2″N 0°14’36.1″W.
If you don’t have a GPS follow these instructions:
– Arriving in Vilallonga you will be on the CV-680. You will pass a couple roundabouts.
– When you see the gas station ‘Estocion Service Villalonga SL’ on your right side take the first exit at the next roundabout.
– You will drive into the street ‘Av. Blasco Ibanez’. Go left on the first roundabout and straight ahead at the second roundabout.
– Now you will be on the street ‘Via Pista’.
– Then it is just straight ahead! Via Pista will turn into Garrer Font de la Reprimala.
– Park near information board to start the hike.
