El Chorro de Montanejos offers a powerful image that leaves no one indifferent. It is located in a privileged natural enclave, surrounded by mountains and lush vegetation.
El Chorro de Montanejos, a spillway for the reservoir
This jet of water that emerges with unusual force from the mountain wall is not a natural waterfall, but rather the spillway of the Embalse de Arenoso, an artificial water reservoir.
The water outlet is about 5 meters from the ground and the horizontally projected waterfall reaches 25 meters in length.
How el Chorro works
El Chorro is the result of the absorption of water from the depths of the reservoir due to pressure, which sometimes reaches 7 bars, and circulates through the conduits that cross the mountain, which in turn acts as a natural dam.
The water falls with force, creating a raft of impossible currents, giving rise to an impressive visual and auditory spectacle, which can be observed calmly and without risk from the bridge that was raised when the Embalse de Arenoso and its spillway were built in the 1970s. This place is especially popular in spring and autumn, when the water flow is greater due to seasonal rains.
The starting point of Rafting in Montanejos
This spillway has a capacity to extract between half a cubic metre and twenty cubic metres per second, which is equivalent to between 500 and 20,000 litres of water every second.
This amount is sufficient to provide the Mijares River with a maintenance flow, also creating an area of the river that is widely used for rafting.
This whitewater area is the most powerful in the entire Comunidad Valenciana. The section reaches the Cirat Dam, where almost all of the flow is diverted to feed the Cirat hydroelectric power station.
A unique microclimate in Montanejos
El Chorro de Montanejos and its surroundings represent a delicate ecosystem of great ecological value. The clean waters and dense vegetation that surround it are one of the main natural assets of Montanejos.
This is because on the slope opposite the water outlet, a sort of microclimate is created with vegetation more typical of other latitudes: lichens, mosses and aquatic vegetation.
How to get to el Chorro de Montanejos
To get there, visitors can follow the Los Estrechos hiking route, whose path offers incomparable panoramic views of the Mijares River and its natural surroundings.
This hiking route crosses the Chorro, so those who do it can enjoy a pleasant and refreshing natural shower. It can also be accessed via the CV 2O road, through the tunnels or by taking the guided tours offered by the Montanejos Tourist Train.