Serra d’Irta trails: the 8 official routes and 3 by bike

The park’s official map publishes eight interpretive itineraries. These are their figures, exactly as they appear on each fact sheet:

• 1. Mas del Senyor, Clot de Maig, Pebret dunes and Badum tower — circular, 14.6 km, medium, +361 m of accumulated ascent (max. altitude 185 m). Start and finish: Font Nova estate.
• 2. Irta lighthouse, Cala Cubanita and Font de la Parra — linear, 12.5 km, easy, +255 m. Start and finish: Cala Blanca.
• 3. Pulpis castle – Boixar ravine — circular, 7.7 km, medium, +391 m (max. 428 m). Start and finish: Santa Magdalena de Pulpis cemetery.
• 4. Xivert castle – Assagador de la Serra — circular, 9.4 km, medium, +235 m (max. 370 m). Start: N-340, km 1023.
• 5. Santa Llúcia i Sant Benet hermitage — linear, 5 km, medium, +259 m (max. 272 m). Start: Montemar estate, Calle Oliveres.
• 6. Alto de Vistahermosa – Sant Antoni hermitage — circular, 12 km, hard, +585 m (max. 414 m). Start: Nerea estate.
• 7. The ridges of the Serra d’Irta — linear, 18.8 km, hard, +1,021 m (max. 548 m). From the Santa Llúcia hermitage to the Sant Antoni hermitage, via the Ebrí tower and Campanilles peak.
• 8. La Carrera itinerary – Campanilles peak — linear, 9.7 km, medium/hard, +538 m (max. 548 m). Start: Barranco de la Carrera.

They are waymarked as PR-CV 194 (and its variants 194.1, 194.2 and 194.3), PR-CV 431 and PR-CV 432. Campanilles peak, at 572 m, is the roof of the park, and the Ebrí tower watches the coast from 499 m.

If you have half a morning: route 5, to the Santa Llúcia i Sant Benet hermitage. Five linear kilometres starting where the tarmac ends at the top of Calle Oliveres (Montemar estate). It is the village’s classic climb and it hands you the panorama of the whole bay; at the top stands the 1690 hermitage, whose story is in the history of Alcossebre.

If you want the sea all the way: route 2, from the Irta lighthouse to Cala Cubanita. The easiest of the eight and never far from the water, passing Serradal beach with its mound of sea-worn pebbles. The map itself recommends its first stretch for walking with children.

If you came to sweat: route 7, the ridges. 18.8 linear kilometres and over 1,000 m of accumulated ascent, hermitage to hermitage along the top of the range, with the Ebrí tower and Campanilles on the way. Plan the way back — it is not circular.

• Ruta del Cranc — from Las Fuentes beach to Cala Volante, 17.8 km, easy. It follows the Ribamar track parallel to the coast; its only sting is the climb to the Badum tower, past the Pla de Pebret.
• Ruta del Fardatxo — from Las Fuentes beach to the Font Nova estate, 16 km, medium, via Cala Argilaga, Font d’en Canes, the Caseta picnic area, Pou del Moro and Mas del Senyor.
• Ruta del Xoriguer — from Santa Magdalena de Pulpis to Alcalà de Xivert, 25.6 km, hard, +675 m. It passes the Corral de la Viuda, reaches Xivert castle and drops down the Camí de l’Estopet past the Calvari hermitage.

All three start or end in the municipality, so you can ride them without a car if you stay in Alcossebre. Park context in the nature guide.

Beyond the mountains, the municipality has two waymarked routes around its trees of local interest, with panels giving the height, trunk circumference and crown diameter of each specimen:

• Alcossebre botanical route (by bike): it takes in the trees of the Sant Antoni de Cap i Corb hermitage, the pine grove of Plaça Vista Alegre — with those crooked-trunk pines right on the seafront — the carob trees of the Calle Ametler park, survivors of the dryland farming that once covered this coast, and the trees along the Les Fonts promenade.
• Alcalà de Xivert tree route (on foot): the olive tree of Plaça de l’Església, the cork oaks at the railway station — a rare species here — the 32 cypresses of the Calvari that accompanied the procession, and the Calvari olive tree, transplanted when the barbecue area was laid out.

Both official leaflets, with the map and every numbered stop, are on the downloads page.

The park has 15 km of undeveloped coastline, and there are four outings that Alcossebre has always done. The official map publishes no times, so these are the rough local ones:

• The coves route, following the shore from the Alcossebre lighthouse past Cala Mundina, Cala Blanca and Cala Ribamar — easy, 2-3 hours, great with family and with a swim along the way.
• Climb to the Santa Lucía i Sant Benet hermitage — medium, 1.5 hours each way, among pines, mastic and rosemary.
• Alcalà de Xivert castle — medium, 2.5 hours as a loop.
• Ebrí tower and Badum tower — medium/hard, 3-4 hours; Badum lies closer to Peñíscola.

And the marathon version, for anyone who wants to do it all on foot: from the centre of Alcossebre to Xivert castle it is 34 linear kilometres by road and track, with 265 m of ascent and easy grading: about 8 hours walking, 3.5 by bike and 1.5 by car. Being linear, those are one-way times, so plan the way back.

The best season is October to May, and autumn above all: there is no continuous shade in these mountains and the July–August heat is no joke. If you walk in summer, set off at first light and avoid the middle of the day. We go into it in the Alcossebre off season guide.

Carry water: the itineraries have no guaranteed springs. Hiking shoes, a hat and sun protection; on routes 6, 7 and 8 the climbing is serious. Check the forecast before setting off on the Alcossebre weather page.

The Natural Park Interpretation Centre is at Avenida Estación, s/n, Peñíscola (12598); phones 964 33 67 91 and 679 19 63 98, e-mail serra_irta@gva.es. Emergencies, 112. Access to the park and all its trails is free of charge.

And if you would rather not go alone, the council runs free guided routes through the sierra, the castle and the village, with a guide and a set time.

The Alcossebre trailheads (routes 5 and 7, plus the Cranc and Fardatxo bike routes) are inside the town or in its estates, so you get there on foot or with a short drive. Parking is rarely a problem: the blue zone only regulates streets in the centre, and only at Easter and from 15 June to 30 September; details in the parking guide. How to reach the town, in the how to get here guide.

To sleep with the trails on your doorstep, the handiest areas are Las Fuentes (start of both bike routes) and the park surroundings: see the comparison of apartments in the quiet areas and the areas guide with real distances. Every option is in the accommodation guide.