The tour begins in the municipality of Pitarque. Once we have left the village, we will walk along orchards and fields, most of them abandoned. The hermitage of the Virgen de la Peña marks the halfway point of the route. From this point, the path runs between the high stone walls shaped by the course of the river. Poplars (Populus nigra), willows (Salix sp.), hazelnut trees (Corylus avellana) and mustard trees (Sorbus aria). Past the old hydroelectric plant, the valley narrows and the vegetation becomes denser. Further on, a concrete bridge will allow us to cross to the other side of the river.
The source of the Pitarque River is the product of the surface upwelling of water flowing through the subway aquifer, sometimes with flows of up to 1,500 liters/second. The first upwelling we find is the so-called “chimney”, where the water falls in an impressive cascade when the rainfall regime allows it. Further on we find the Ojal de los Planos spring, and on the opposite bank the Ojal de Malburgo, considered the main spring, although the true source of the Pitarque River is located in the Boca Negra cave in the municipality of Fortanete.
Source: Tourist Trails of Aragon
