La Tajera Reservoir Viewpoint

The draw is not the water but what stands in it. Below the viewpoint rise the Frailes del Reato, black rock pinnacles that break the shoreline and set themselves against the colour of the reservoir and the green of the scrub. Vultures circle overhead and drift along the slope below eye level.

Nothing here is built. There is no information board within 5 km, no marked route and no fixed lookout — the site is classed as a hiking area, and that is what it feels like. The reward is a view most people never reach, over a reservoir that stays quiet.

• Signposting: There is none. People have parked, searched along the overgrown path and gone home without finding the viewpoint.
• The last stretch: No made path. Hard, woody branches have to be pushed aside, and it is easy to lose the line and start wandering.
• Flies: They are heavy here in warm weather. Repellent is worth packing.
• No facilities: No toilets, no drinking water and no information board within 5 km. Carry what you need.

Come by car. There is no bus or coach stop within 5 km of the viewpoint, and no car park at the site itself. The last part is on foot, and it is the hard part: there is no made path, the signposting is bad, and the final section runs into dense branches that have to be pushed through. Load the coordinates into a map app before you set off and keep them running, because the ground gives you nothing to navigate by.

Better: when the reservoir is full. The Frailes are at their most impressive seen from the water, and a canoe can only be paddled up to their feet at high water.

Avoid: warm, still weather without repellent — flies here are heavy enough to spoil the walk.

Crowds are not the issue at this viewpoint. The area is quiet, and the difficulty of finding it keeps it that way.