Nacimiento del Río San Juan

23670, Castillo de Locubín How to get

The source of the San Juan River is located in the municipal term of Castillo de Locubín in the depression between the hills of Sierrezuela and La Nava. This idyllic landscape, surrounded by vegetation, has its main characteristic in the abundance of water that flows from the interior of the mountain. It is a place of great beauty, where several pools of crystalline water have been formed in a natural way, from which the underground water gushes, forming beautiful and intermittent columns of bubbles up to the surface. In addition, we can observe small waterfalls and channels. It is accessed by the C-3221 road, which connects Castillo with the neighboring town of Valdepeñas de Jaén.

Information

Natural area of ??great beauty of water and lush avenues that invite you to relax, converted into a recreational area, a magnificent enclave to spend a pleasant day in the field surrounded by nature, enjoy the surroundings, rest under the dense trees or take a hiking route. The space has a magnificent picnic area with benches, tables, wastebaskets, a small bar, a children's play area and a large car park. This area annually attracts thousands of visitors from many municipalities, some very far away.

From the same pools of the Birth there comes a channel known by the neighbors as “el Caz”, which allows watering the riverside gardens for several kilometers, and which joins the river again in the town, next to the Roman bridge from Triana, the place where permits were issued for the “El Carrizal” fishing reserve, whose upper section is the source of the San Juan River. The pool closest to the river was used for the release of trout and fishing for both people with reduced mobility and children, learning the values ??and techniques necessary to manage themselves within this sport and get their own catches (it is counted with a children's fishing school in the town in the summer, taking advantage of the school holidays).

The fishing ground comprised approximately 4 km. In which paths have been set up, making many parts of the banks practicable and facilitating the formation of pools, a place where fish can find better shelter and more water.

Fishing could also be practiced at the Puente de Valdepeñas, where one of the most remarkable pools of the fishing reserve is formed, both for the number of trout and for their quality. The surroundings of Nacimiento del Río San Juan are characterized by a typically Mediterranean landscape, with the holm oak and kermes oak as the protagonists. Other plants present are the mastic, the white rockrose, the thyme and the rosemary, but, without a doubt, the white poplar is the most abundant species in the Nacimiento and on the river bank. In this we can see fertile orchards that make up the "Castilla valley", which acquires its maximum splendor in spring with the flowering of cherry trees, very abundant in the area, watered from the same pools of the birth through "the Caz" previously mentioned.

This area, owned by the City Council, is home to a multitude of outdoor physical activities.