This is the path that has traditionally linked the towns of El Boalo and Mataelpino and goes through several drovers' roads of great patrimonial and cultural value. It also coincides with one stage of El Camino de Santiago.
The complete route makes a “figure eight” shape, though it can be simplified if you want to walk it in a linear way. After leaving El Boalo, we take a pleasant trail surrounded by ash forests, meadows, and pastures.
This trail ends at la Colada de Manzanares a El Boalo, a pass between the two towns, where it happens to meet the Camino de Santiago. After just more than 1 km, you will reach the San Isidro Chapel, which was made of masonry from the area by the locals during the 80s and 90s. To honour the town’s patron saint, a religious pilgrimage, or Romeria, is held on May 15. There is a recreational area by the chapel where we can rest and enjoy the views of the Sierra de los Porrones and the iconic Maliciosa.
Leave the Camino de Santiago and go up the Colada de las Covachuelas, with the Maliciosa peak in the background. This trail is much rougher, since it is located near the mountainside of the Sierra de los Porrones. You will find cork (Quercus pyrenaica) farms, ash (Frazinus angustifolia), and even a small forest of Montpellier maples (Acer monspessulanum).
At the town’s entrance, next to the water basin, you can choose whether to go to Mataelpino’s main square, Plaza Mayor, or to continue the route, which goes back to the Camino de Santiago. Without a chance of getting lost, keep going towards El Boalo enjoying the wide landscape that offers a beautiful and peaceful panoramic view. Throughout this whole route you will find many farm-related elements. There are drovers’ road signs, water basins and drinking troughs, rest areas, forest farms, pastures, stone fences, and even animal footprints that will remind you over and over again of the importance of livestock activities in our town.