The Via Verde de Mazarrón walking and cycling route: first section

The 14-kilometre Vía Verde welcomes walkers and cyclists between Mazarrón and La Pinilla

When it was decided in the early 20th century that a railway should be built linking Mazarrón to the intended line between Cartagena and Totana the engineers and construction workers involved could hardly have imagined that their project would eventually become a greenway for the use of walkers and cyclists, but that is exactly what has happened.

The Mazarrón branch of the Region of Murcia’s Vía Verde network runs from the north of the town, close to the old mines, where the easiest place for users to begin their journey is next to the toll both on the AP-7 motorway.

An area alongside the road has been conditioned for parking and an information board clearly marks the start point of the route.

The Via Verde then heads north to Mazarrón Country Club (see map below).

At the Country Club the track temporarily disappears as users feel concrete and tarmac under their feet and tyres for a few hundred metres along Calle Cabriolé, but it reappears again at the northern end of the development and progresses alongside the RM-3 to the small chapel of El Saladillo. Here the path heads off to the right, curving around the hillside to the outskirts of La Pinilla, where it joins the 53-kilometre Cartagena-Totana greenway.

Eventually it is the intention of the Town Hall of Mazarrón is to extend the route southwards to the coast in Puerto de Mazarrón. This extension, if it materializes, will probably again follow the original route of the railway which once carried minerals from the mines to the port, and which in the first decade of the 20^th century also featured passenger trains.

For many users the first stretch of the Via Verde is an ideal walking route, the distance covered from the start point to the Mazarrón Country Club and then back again around 11km. The walk is fairly flat, the road is well conditioned so is suitable for on-road bicycles and there is no chance fo getting lost. There is no shade along the route, so if walking this stretch of the Via Verde in the summer, be sure to wear a hat and carry water.

For more local information and news go to the home page of Mazarrón Today.