Los Bolos Waterfall

Your feet are wet from the first steps and stay that way for more than an hour. The route wades upstream along a Mozarabic irrigation channel, then through the river itself, and on a hot day the water underfoot is the whole point. Children take to it from the very start.

The best of it comes last. The final section opens into several pools and ends at a large waterfall, the reward for all that splashing. Even in mid-July the channel still carries plenty of water.

• Wear shoes and clothes that can get wet, and leave a dry change in the car.
• Signage along the route is sparse; carry a map or a downloaded track.
• The water sometimes runs murky and muddy, which makes the falls hard to reach. Check recent photos before you go.
• Dogs manage the route, but small ones may need carrying on the uphill sections.
• There are no toilets and no drinking water at the falls, and none nearby. Fill up before you set out, and take your rubbish home.

The nearest car park sits about 2.5 km from the falls in a straight line, and you can also leave the car near the high school in Dúrcal. From parking to the trailhead is about a 15-minute walk.

From there the route follows the irrigation channel and then the river upstream: more than an hour of wading, with some uphill sections, before the pools and the waterfall come into view. Signage is sparse, so keep a map to hand.

The nearest bus stop, Marchena, is about 3.3 km away in a straight line.

Best: a hot summer day, on a weekday if you can.

Avoid: cold weather, and days when the water runs high or muddy.

The whole walk is spent in water, which is a relief in summer heat and a slog in the cold, and murky water turns the approach to the falls into hard going.