IMPORTANT ANNOUNCEMENT
Due to the inherent risks involved in entering the Cueva del Gato, access to it without the relevant authorisation should be avoided, since the cavity is not specially enabled for the entry of people.


Next to the urban nucleus of the Benaoján station, on the left bank of the Guadiaro river, we find the starting point of this easy route of just over two kilometres that will end just before the access to the Cueva del Gato, in the river pool. Gaduares after its exit through the mouth of this famous cavity. Following upstream the course of the Guadiaro along the route of an old cattle trail, we will initially be accompanied by oleanders, brambles and other riverbank plant formations that flank the riverbed to our left.

Shortly after starting, we find ourselves in the first section known as Charco de la Barranca, where the river widens after being partially dammed thanks to the existence of a out-of-use artificial dyke, giving rise to a small drop in the water in which it is easy to observe the presence of fish.

The path brings us closer to various mills that once used the driving force of the river, and runs along certain sections of an old medieval road which, in turn, was built upon an ancient Roman road that linked the cities Roman ruins of Carteia, in San Roque, with the flourishing Acinipo, in Ronda via the Guadiaro valley.

Precisely one of the mills through which we will pass, the one known as the Four Stops, preserves a good part of its original structure, including the four buckets or stops that made as many wheels turn.

From here, the path narrows, becoming a pleasant path next to the river that allows us to enjoy the sounds of the water and the small songbirds linked to the river environment, as well as the smells of the aromatic plants present next to the Guadiaro shore. It is the right time to walk slowly, taking full advantage of the benefits that Mother Nature offers us in this beautiful environment, especially in a place where the water forms a pool due to the presence of a rock formation where it is easy to observe, if we approach in silence, water and river birds, such as gray herons, cormorants, bluebirds and nightingales.