Turisme d’Elx :: Routes

This park is part of what used to be the Elche Lagoon, almost completely drained from the 18th century onwards. Today, there are two regulatory irrigation reservoirs around which are a series of ponds and salt marshes, which in turn are surrounded by fields and palm plantations that together form a unique landscape. The area has been a Nature Park since 1988 and is on the RAMSAR wetlands convention lists and is classified as a Special Protection Area for Birds, or ZEPA.
More information on El Hondo

How to arrive:

Leaving Elx we take the Matola road and further on a turning to the left for San Felipe Neri. This part of the journey runs parallel to the Canal de Levante and finishes at the Vereda de Sendres, where we turn right and follow the signs to the Centro de Información (Information Centre) where the route begins.

Route One:

Ornithological route. The starting point is the second riser of the Comunidad de Riegos de Levante and follows the park’s main canal. Running along the edge of the Poniente reservoir we arrive at the “Tollo” and “Calamón” hides from where we can better see the park’s greatest asset: its birdlife. There are many species, such as the purple heron, night heron and squacco heron to be observed in flight, swimming or feeding. There are also a large number of duck species, including the marbled duck, which has in El Hondo its main breeding grounds in the whole of the Iberian Peninsula, and the ruddy duck, present the throughout the whole year. Other nesting ducks include the pochard and the red-crested pochard. A bit further on is the La Rosseta vantage point whence we can see almost all of the two reservoirs as well as the salt pans. The Peu Verd hide, from which we can observe successfully reintroduced species such as the purple gallinule, the crested coot and the black-necked grebe, marks the end of this route.

Route Two:

Information Centre. At the beginning of the route we can observe the salt marshes, their characteristic plants and the crops in the surrounding fields. Thanks to a raised walkway over the salt marshes, we can observe the wading birds that colonise shallow water. Among these species, the most important are the avocet and the black-winged stilt. We can also see species such as the Kentish plover, the sandpiper, snipe and redshank, and even the lapwing. We can enjoy the unforgettable sight of the flight of large flocks of flamingos, an elegant species that has found here the ideal place to remain undisturbed all year round. Our route concludes at a rest area.