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| The Enebrales nature reserve is ideal to explore by foot or bicycle. |
Los Enebrales Natural Area
Just outside of Punta Umbría is an area covering 162 hectares of protected beach, sand dunes and woods, including a juniper grove, one of the few examples of this type in Andalucía. The 50-m wide beach, with fine, golden sand, stretches for 2.3km.
Access
Access to the paraje is easy by foot or bicycle. A carril bici (cycleway) starts from the western end of Punta Umbría, at the western end of Avenida Ciudad de Huelva or Avenida del Océano from the town centre. The cycleway runs all the way to La Bota beach.
Flora and fauna
The Playa de los Enebrales is bordered by a double front of sand dunes. The most recent dunes run parallel to the sea, while the more established ones are colonized by a grove of the eponymous enebros (juniper) trees. Junipers are relatively rare along the Andalucian coastline. Alongside these grow stone pines, black pines, broom, thyme, rosemary and wildflowers.
The woodland is rich in fauna, with a variety of small mammals and reptiles. Examples of birds here are azure-winged magpies, nightjars, goldfinches, curlews, hoopoes and cuckoos.
Walks
You can walk along the cyclway that runs from the end of Avenida Ciudad de Huelva or Avenida del Océano from the town centre to La Bota campsite. There is a network of footpaths that cross the pine woods and dunes to the beach.
