Visit to Alhama Bike Route – Technical Chart
This is the kilometre-by-kilometre description of the detour from the Loja corridor to Alhama de Granada on the Washington Irving Bike Route. The notes pick up in Villanueva Mesía (km 16 from Loja), leave the Genil plain, follow the Cacín and then the Alhama rivers, and finish at the Iglesia del Carmen after the Roman bridge and the historic baths.
The ride is a side trip, not the main run to Montefrío or Granada. It trades motorway-side tracks for poplar groves, irrigation paths, a few poorly marked turns and a final climb onto the rocky spur that holds the town above its gorge, with the Sierras de Tejeda, Almijara and Alhama on the skyline.
Kilometre marks follow the site’s continuous count from Loja. The detour itself is about 33 km. Surfaces mix earth trails, farm tracks and short stretches of local road; after rain the riverside paths and small fords can change quickly.
Kilometre-by-kilometre description
KM 16–23: Villanueva Mesía, the Genil and the Cacín
Coming from Loja, the detour is described from Calle Real in Villanueva Mesía. Descend out of the village beside the church and head towards the A-92. The official name of the municipality is Villanueva Mesía (not “Villanueva del Mesía”).
After the bridge over the Genil, turn right onto an earth trail among asparagus beds, maize and poplar groves. Cross the Cacín, a tributary of the Genil, almost at once and stay on the deceptively flat track that runs parallel to the river through a thick belt of poplars.
The route passes the open-air restaurant Venta del Grano, formerly Venta del Cacín, an old stop on the road to Granada. After the underpass beneath the A-92 the trail climbs steadily with the river still on the left.
Beyond Cortijo del Pozo a small bridge recrosses the water. About 200 m later turn left, leaving the river on a short slope among olive and almond trees. The path then twists up and down on occasional stony ground, with the river now on the right and caper bushes along the banks.
On the rise towards the ruined Cortijo de Santa Rita watch for a poorly marked right turn (km 22.2) onto a path that follows an irrigation channel beside the ditch. At km 22.8 it joins a better trail. The river remains on the right.
KM 23–28: Moraleda de Zafayona
A gentle climb on the Camino de la Presa de Derivación leads into Moraleda de Zafayona along Calle Málaga. The village — the old Campo de las Fuentes, or Fa al Uyun — once marked the boundary between the lands of Granada and Loja and is the natural pause before the ground starts to rise.
Ride through the centre past the church and leave on the road towards El Turro and Cacín. After about 300 m leave the asphalt for an earth trail that runs towards a builders’ materials yard.
KM 28–35: Monte Horniceros and Camino de los Llanos
Past the El Salao stadium the trail drops, crosses a bridge over the river and begins the climb of Monte Horniceros. After a crossroads and a succession of junctions, use the large fig tree at km 27.6 as a landmark, keep right, then climb left near a large holm oak.
Skirt Cortijo de Horniceros, continue left down a short slope and follow a stretch that looks flat but is not, beside terraced olive groves.
The route meets the El Turro road by Cortijo El Nogal (km 29) and follows the partly level, partly descending Camino de los Llanos. Cross the bridge over the Alhama river, climb a short slope and turn left onto the A-402 (the Alhama corridor towards Vélez-Málaga; older maps still show A-335). Traffic is faster here: stay visible and leave the road as soon as the trail allows.
In the Buenavista district drop left off the road on a track that returns to the riverside.
KM 35–41: Valenzuela and Santa Cruz del Comercio
At the Alhama river turn right. The trail is flat and parallel to the water, among poplars and wild asparagus. Soon you recross the river and meet a track closed by a chain: dismount and pass it on foot, then climb a short slope that bends right.
At the top turn right past the ruins of Cortijo de la Gallina. A left-hand bend opens a view over the poplar groves of Cortijo de La Puerca and the Valenzuela district. Ride through Valenzuela, cross the bridge over the Alhama and turn left onto an earth trail that again follows the river in the shade of the poplars.
Still on the vega and parallel to the river, the route passes Huerta del Aguilucho and Molino de la Vega and reaches Santa Cruz del Comercio beside the bridge and a pond. Cross the road with care, climb, and turn left onto the old road from Santa Cruz del Comercio to Alhama de Granada.
KM 41–49: Baths, Roman bridge and Alhama de Granada
The last kilometres mix false flats with short steep ramps, straw-coloured fields and the thick riverside vegetation of the Alhama. At a fork the path ahead climbs to Torre Solana and the town. Take the left branch towards the Alhama de Granada baths, about 300 m away — the Roman and Moorish springs that gave the place its name (al-hamma, hot spring).
Continue up the road to the baths as far as the Roman bridge over the Alhama river, then join the A-402 to the right. After about 100 m turn left onto the old entry road to Alhama de Granada. The town sits on a rocky promontory cut by the gorge, with the Sierras de Tejeda, Almijara and Alhama behind it.
Enter along Camino de los Remedios and Calle Carril Bajo. The technical description ends at the fountain by the Iglesia del Carmen — a practical place to refill bottles and a clear viewpoint over the tajo.
Map of the rural route to Alhama
