Irrigatión Ditch Trail

This trail offers an opportunity to discover one of the oldest and most ingenious water management and transport systems in the Alpujarra: the *acequias* (irrigation channels). These channels carry water from the upper reaches of rivers to the region’s cultivated fields, recharge aquifers, and help sustain many of the ecosystems within the Sierra Nevada.

A significant portion of the route follows the *Camino Real* (Royal Road), a historic path that crossed the Sierra Nevada toward Granada. It was also used to drive livestock up to high-mountain pastures during the summer—a season when the local inhabitants would stay in *cortijos* (traditional farmhouses) and tend to their crops. Today, the most common crops are cherry tomatoes and green beans. The route also follows part of the *Acequia Real* (Royal Irrigation Channel), along whose banks you will find lush chestnut trees and pastures for livestock.

After an initial, fairly steep ascent, the path levels out as it approaches the *balsa* (irrigation reservoir).

From this point, the trail runs parallel to the lower irrigation channel, climbing gently until it reaches a spot where the path turns left to ascend toward a higher channel. We will follow this upper channel for the return leg of the journey—first heading back toward the aforementioned reservoir, then turning right to continue along the channel, and finally arriving at the El Castillejo neighborhood of Bérchules. Please note that part of the return route overlaps with the outward path.