Road access:
From Yecla or Pinoso across the road RM-424 connecting both towns. On this road we turn off towards the Sierra Salinas at kilometre 12 following a tarmacked road.
The best time of year to visit:
Throughout the year, but preferably in spring and autumn.
The main points of interest are:
Capilla del Fraile, Cueva del Lagrimal, Mirador Rabasa, old farmhouses, Casa Forestal (forest house), Pocico Bartolo, and Fuente del Lobo.
Visit conditions:
Hiking activities carried out in a sustainable and environmentally friendly way don’t require license. For other types of activities it is recommended to contact the Autonomous Community of the Region of Murcia or the wildlife officer.
Location:
In the South-eastern part of the town of Yecla.
An area of approximate:
2,300 hectares.
Altitude:
600 – 1,237 metres above sea level.
Protection regime:
Protected Site. The Natural Resources Ordinance Plan was originally approved.
Administrative authority:
Autonomous Community of the Region of Murcia. Agriculture and Hydraulic Resources Department.
Topography:
An impressive mountainous massif, a succession of hills and deep ravines, dotted with rocky walls of great beauty and ecological importance.
Vegetation:
Aleppo-pine woodland together with kermes oaks and gall-oaks. Strawberry trees, honeysuckle, Pistacia terebinthus (turpentine tree), rock rose and rosemary abound here.
Fauna:
Great capricorn beetle, different species of birds of prey, both diurnal and nocturnal, red crossbill, European robin, wild boar, ladder snake, ocellated lizard, large psammodromus.
What’s so special about it?:
Sierra Salinas is one of the most important forest ecosystems in the Region of the Altiplano.
The appearance of the mountain range is wild, with prominent ravines trapped between the hillsides. The summit of the mountain range is commonly called as Capilla del Fraile and it is 1,237 metres high, which makes it the highest point in the municipality of Yecla.
The most interesting elements are the shaded spots, ravines and ledges of the mountain range, located in the northern area. It’s populated by a dense Aleppo-pine woodland, with large sized old specimens. Above an altitude of 950 metres the holm-oak wood can be seen, together with gall-oaks in the wettest ravines and alongside them in a cramped undergrowth, there are kermes oaks, strawberry trees, Viburnum tinus (laurestine), honeysuckles, turpentine trees.
The fauna diversity is enormous.
