The Tavirona Route begins at the old railway station. Its trajectory coincides with the former railway and ends at the Tavirona Brigde, after which it is named, and where one can enjoy the wide panoramic views of the natural site "Marismas del Río Piedras” and “Flecha de Nueva Umbría".
The route is part of the Vía Verde Litoral (coastal rail trail). It used to start in Gibraleón and end at Ayamonte, over a distance of more than 30 miles, passing through Cartaya, Lepe, La Redondela and Pozo del Camino.
The railway arrived to the neighbourhood of Lepe in 1931. It was built by the State for the transport of goods on 14 August 1936 and started transporting passengers on 1 August 1940 in wooden wagons pulled by steam locomotives, until in 1965 the switch to rail buses was made.
Throughout the years, the inhabitants of the area experienced how travelling by train increased the travel time and was subject to inflexible schedules, while travelling by bus became ever more popular, with stops at any point in the village. The fate of the train was sealed. The final closure of the facilities between the Mezquita up to Ayamonte took place on 27 September 1987.
Excepting a few sections, the type of route is the old railway with a road surface of compacted soil. It is of low difficulty. It is a pleasant path for walking or cycling or practising sports.
The path is bordered by a wooden fence, has benches and markings over the entire trajectory.
This path leads through a wooded area of our coast where you can admire the beaches. The Parque de los Cabezos erects itself over a geologic formation of the quaternary, as can be seen by the shrivelled surfaces and flutes of varied colours that range from yellow to copper red. The entire route lies next to a 27-hole golf course.
Features of the route:
- Trajectory: Islantilla - Parque de los Cabezos - Golf Course - Paseo de Islantilla
- Length: 2.3 miles (all paved)
- Duration: 1 hour and 15 minutes
- Tilt: 45º
- Type: Round
- Difficulty: Low
- On foot: Yes
- By bike: Yes
- By car: No
Following the coastline by its most western part, one finds Islantilla, a tourist enclave of recent establishment, shared with the neighbouring municipality of Isla Cristina. It is over a mile long and covered with fine sand. A strip of natural dunes separates it from the built-up area. It perfectly combines urban development and respect for the environment. Not only does it include the typical services of a beach, Islantilla offers the visitor the chance of playing on its 27-hole golf course, one of the best in Andalusia, which extends itself over an area of dense pine forest and lush holm oaks. It boasts three different ranges and stands out because of its thorough design that confers a high quality and variety to the course. Moreover, Atlantilla has a convention and exhibition centre, multi-screen cinemas, shopping centres with parking, four star hotels, hotel school... A special mention goes to the international film festival by moonlight, Islantilla Cinefórum, a wink towards film lovers, who are invited to enjoy the most outstanding avant-gardist audiovisual propositions in the best possible of surroundings: the beach. A date with the best film and short films produced worldwide, displayed outdoors shown in a two months lasting time frame. All this decorated with round tables, special exhibitions and sessions, among other cultural activities.
These are of great natural and landscape value, where animals in danger of extinction, like the chameleon, find shelter. They form a belt that surrounds the coastline and are protected by local planning for their environmental and landscape value. They are mostly used for leisure activities. Recent studies claim these pine forests are as ancient as the Neanderthal.
It is a site where nature becomes art, where the ocean blends with the river Piedras and gives life to the age-old harbour of El Terrón. It was declared a natural site in 1989. It is the third largest in the province of Huelva (6,250 acres). Its altitude above sea level ranges between 0 and 33 feet.
It is an important enclave of ornithology, aquaculture and ecology. Its main uses are fishing, cultural tourism and leisure. Since ancient times man has applied the varied resources this enclave has to offer in the development of such diverse and traditional activities as shellfish gathering, fishing or marine cultures. Nowadays, this natural site hosts other activities such as hiking, environmental education or bird spotting.
This site stands out because of its uniqueness, the Flecha de Nueva Umbría, a spit of sandy land that started forming over 200 years ago, advancing parallel to the coast and stretching over almost 10 miles. It grows about 40 yards each year and is between 300 and 700 yards wide. It is located at the mouth of the river Piedras and has been formed by of the strong coastal dynamics of the zone, in other words, by the supply of material by the river, the tidal cycle, the longshore drift and the dominating south-eastern winds. This formation, unique in the whole of the national territory, is considered a geomorphological jewel.
When we near this land spit we discover 10 miles of white sand and the deep blue of the sea, virgin beaches (one of the best preserved in the whole of Europe), marshy scenery, estuaries, dune ranges... A whole array of natural abundance that transforms this environment in an ideal place for lovers of nature, because of what it was, and is, an object of study and investigation.
This environment not only characterizes itself by its extraordinary wealth in number and diversity of species, both animal life and vegetation, some of which are in danger of extinction and find a natural shelter here. It also enjoys a mild climate and its humid areas are well preserved. This excellent preservation transforms it into the most valuable ecological area of the municipality and is the reason why it has been incorporated in the network of protected sites of Andalusia. Visitors can enjoy a large nudist area, where sea and nature blend in a paradisical environment.
The beaches and dunes serve as a nesting zone for many species of birds that have adapted themselves to the extraordinary salinity, humidity or drought, such as the Kentish plover, as well as some colonies of little terns and collared pratincoles.
The richness of the marshes serves as a habitat for an abundant marine animal life (eels, sea breams, sea basses, red mullets, fine clams, fiddler crabs, seahorses...) and also attracts birds like sandpipers, redshanks, ospreys, mergansers, common scoters, sandwich terns, lesser black-backed gulls, or godwits. On the beaches however, the true protagonists are the seagulls, the terns and the plovers, along with the different species of wavers like the turnstones, the dunlins or the curlews.
Among the reptiles, the chameleon is the most emblematic species, as its habitat in Europe is limited to the provinces of Málaga, Cádiz, Huelva and the Portuguese Algarve.
As to the vegetation, which is halophyte in the marsh areas, we find it has adapted very well to the salinity. The most common plants are Arthrocnemum macrostachyum, cordgrass, sea purslane, Mediterranean saltwort, limonium and sea heath. In the sandy zone which suffers from drought and extreme exposure to the sun plants as beach grass, sea holly, sea daffodil, silver lotus, European sea-rocket, sedge, retama and corn-cockle grow abundantly. The most representative plant is a species of thyme, Tymus Carnosus, which has one of its few areas of distribution in this zone.
Within this same site we find the fishing port and leisure marina of El Terrón.
We can sight this entire site from the viewpoint of El Catalán or from the rail trail that unites the beaches of La Antilla and Nueva Umbría.
Nueva Umbría Beach is nestled in the natural site Marismas del Río Piedras y Flecha de Nueva Umbría”. With almost 10 miles of fine white sand naturist lovers can enjoy the first nudist beach in the province of Huelva, declared as such in one of its stretches. Of these 10 miles, 1.5 belong to Santa Pura Beach. It is located in the heart of the natural site and is considered unspoilt, even in our times, being one of the few areas that has not suffered from human intervention. It has no constructions and offers the visitor the joy of clean water and a view of its lush vegetation between the dunes. Because of its natural and landscape features it has been chosen as a setting for cinematic and advertising productions in many instances.
It stretches from the end of La Antilla on the east side up to where the nudist beach of Nueva Umbría begins. On this beach you can enjoy, apart from the infrastructure of its nearest town centre, La Antilla, the peace that you find thanks to its remoteness from the summer turmoil and the tranquillity of families searching for a joyous day at the beach. Nestled between the sea and the dunes, it is the perfect spot to enjoy reading or lose yourself in the sound of the waves while breathing the pure air of the natural site Marismas del Río y Flecha de Nueva Umbría. Without any doubt a paradisical site.
