Rio Fraile – Do It Yourself Canyoning – Out of Office Explorers

On the western side of Valencia Community, in the area of Bicorp you’ll find a hidden natural gem that is the River Fraile (the Monk’s river). This ~10km river route (round trip) will give the opportunity to do some self-guided canyoning along some spectacular nature and a chance to escape from the hot Valencian summer.

Prepare for your expedition with swimming gear, waterproof bags, water and snacks and a waterproofed camera with memory card (note to Matt who remembered his go-pro but forgot the SD card!) and most of all sturdy footware that can deal with water (or that you can repair Bear Grylls style as our friend Juan did).

You’ll need a car or an organised tour to get here as it is a pretty remote spot, but parking is plentiful and just 5 eur for the day at the official car park. Try to arrive around 10am as getting in and out of the canyon does take some time and it actually took us a few attempts to complete the whole route (and even then we fast tracked some of the start); plus some of the lower (best) segments of the route can get pretty crowded on a summer weekend if you hit them in the early afternoon.

Probably the hardest thing about the route is knowing where you are and how much further you have to go, maps of the route are suitably vague and signposts pretty sparse; so when you don’t see other canyoners you may be forgiven for thinking that you have gone the wrong way or too far, but our advice is to keep going!

Wikiloc has a number of routes listed that can give you an idea, but it is good that you knwo what to look out for in each section [so that you know you are on track…so we’ll try to give a bit of a description to help you on your way.

The hike in (0-2km)
The upper rio – babysteps and aclimatisation (2-3km)
The mid section – pools, glades and fords (3-4km)
The Bottleneck (4km)
The Canyons (4.5km)
Rappelling and the leap of faith (5km)
The journey home (5-10km)

The hike in

Leaving the car park you’ll immediately come upon the perfectly placed Bar Los Botijos, it’s tempting to enjoy a pre-hike ceverza on its shaded terrace where you may also get some live music. Try to reserve a table for lunch post hike, but be aware they close the kitchen around 3pm, so you either leave early or march double time.

This first leg is a fire track route down into the start of the canyon, you’ll catch glimpses of the river off to the side and if you are yarriving later in the day then you’ll also come across semi-naked cayoners on their way back.

This section already has some river to dive off into, as well as a man made pond that those who cannot wait will be diving into…but if you want to make it to the end and back we suggest you keep going for about 2km to where the river crosses under the road from left to right (as you walk down).

The Upper Rio

Jumping off the road to the right will give you a nice gentle start to the river walk. Starting as a narrow, grassy stream you’ll get your first surprise with how cool the water is…especially on a hot summer’s day, this cold water will be a bliss.

With some mini cascades and chest deep pools along this stretch will give a perfect warm up for what is to come.

The mid-section

This part has a lovely stroll through grassy streams, wide crystal clear waters and gentle cascades to hop down through.

Near the end of this section you’ll come to a route out of the canyon and you may be tempted to end for the day and head back; but keep flowing downstream, through shallow rapids and refreshing pools to reach the ford…a natural congregation point for the water perigrinos that are making their away on this route.

The Bottleneck

This is where the trek gets interesting, and if you are short on time then just follow the firetrack directly from the start to the ford for this jump off point and you’ll save yourself some time to get to the adventure. From the ford you will head into a high pinnacled stretch that is the epitome of calm nature

that soon turns into a cascade inferno…sure-footing and selective descent are needed here; and if you arrive after 2pm on a weekend then you’ll find a logjam of canyoners trying to make their way through this tight spot where just a couple of ropes will drop you down through the torrent.

For damsels in distress, don’t fear as you will always find a helping hand to get you down this stretch…

The Canyons

The cascade immediately narrows into a series of tight canyons that need some strength to battle the currents and the deep waters.

This is where the strong and committed will start to win through and the crowds upstream get weeded out as the route gets much more serious

and yet beautifully peaceful at the same time that gives a chance to just float on down…

Rappelling and the Leap of Faith

Keep pushing on and you will be rewarded by an awesome waterfall descent (don’t think about the health and safety in this!) that will drop you into a tropical pool of paradise.

Not much further to go and you’ll reach the culmination of the route with a leap of faith into the canyon below…it’s a bit of an exact piece of positioning so plan your jump carefully…and gracefully!

The journey home

It’s a bit vague on how to return from here as signage is not so apparent, but the best bet is to head back upstream a few hundred metres above the cascades to where there is a small track heading off left (as you go upstream) that will bring you back to the firetrack.