TALC MINES ROUTE Start and End of the route: Plaza del Castillo Type of route: Circular Time (MIDE): 4h 30' Type of terrain: dirt roads. Maximum altitude: 495 meters above sea level Minimum: 319... (plus +)

TALC MINES ROUTE Start and End of the route: Plaza del Castillo Type of route: Circular Time (MIDE): 4h 30' Type of terrain: dirt roads. Maximum altitude: 495 meters above sea level Minimum: 319 meters above sea level Slope: 176 m Drinking water: municipality. Shelters: No Recommended season: autumn, winter, and spring. Approval: No Tracks and Waupoints available: Yes Province: Badajoz Municipality: Higuera de Vargas Region: Comarca de Olivenza Access: Municipality of Higuera de Vargas Geographical Location: Llanos de Olivenza, Southwest of the province of Badajoz. Route: Circular. Cartography: MTN 1:50,000 852 Villanueva del Fresno, MTN 1.25000 852-II Higuera de Vargas and MTN 852-IV La Crespa. Description: The route starts from the center of the municipality, from Plaza del Castillo, we leave the town through El Caño, a charming place, a fountain with a pillar where the locals collect water to drink, we continue towards El Zumacal, and we enter La Cañada and we will come across the Ctra. de Jerez, we follow the Confrentes stream, pass under a bridge, continue along the Colada towards El Carrascal, we continue a little further along the stream, to head towards the talc mines, an abandoned open-pit talc mining operation, we return to Higuera through the alley of Las Cerca de Don Cecilio. The route of this trail crosses the meadows of the Civil Society La Benéfica, which manages a large part of the territorial heritage of the municipality of Higuera de Vargas, these meadows are used for sheep, goat, and cattle farming, as well as for harvesting firewood and acorns from the holm oaks, cork from the cork oaks, etc. A point of interest is the talc mines, a former open-pit talc mineral exploitation, where the mineral was extracted to be crushed and used to fumigate the oak caterpillars. On this route, we pass through the estates La Cañada and El Carrascal, and places such as El Zumacal, La Colada, Charco la Traviesa, Fuente el Junco, Las Cercas de Don Cecilio, the talc mines, etc. Observations: Much of the route is within the ZEPA Dehesas de Jerez, an extensive mass of meadows located in the southwest of Badajoz, in the foothills of Sierra Morena extending to the Guadiana River, which forms the border with Portugal, encompassing the Alcarrache River basin. It is a space with great richness, where the characteristic element is the oak meadows, and the most representative species are the Iberian pig, classified as endangered, and river and European pond turtles, as well as the presence of otters in the streams of this area. Approximate time: 4.5 hours (MIDE) Length: 16.50 km Difficulty: Medium-Low Locality: Higuera de Vargas MIDE method for hiker information Environment: 1 Itinerary: 1 Displacement: 2 Effort: 3
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