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An Easy Hike Around The Albufereta Wetlands

An easy hike, cycle or jog through a birdwatchers paradise

featured in Hiking & walking routes Updated

S'Albufereta is Mallorca’s third largest wetland area comprised of 211 hectares of protected park land as well as a further 290 hectares of surrounding land, which is semi-regulated so as not to adversely affect the nature park.

Profiting from several different water sources and tributaries Albufereta is a unique environment where fresh water meets salt, a bio-diverse area which is home to environmentally significant plant life as well as around 196 different species of birds including Ospreys and Eleonora’s Falcons.

Named a protected natural park in 2001, Albufereta is an important resting and feeding area for birds during the migrating seasons as well as somewhat of an oasis for many species during the harsh dry summer heat of Mallorca, making this park an attraction for birdwatchers and walkers all year round.

Located along the curved coastline of Pollenca bay, between Puerto Pollenca and Alcudia, Albufereta park is easily accessible by car, via public transport or you could walk to it from Alcudia town. Walking around the park is an easy activity as there is little to no incline in gradient and the whole route is along paved roads, which also makes this route popular with cyclists and joggers.

If you pick up a trail map from the tourist information office and follow the marked trail you will find an easy 9km hike that will take you roughly 2hours to walk. It starts midway along the crescent bay and heads inland, east and then south until it ends at the corner of the bay closest to Alcudia. You can turn it into a looped walk if you wish by walking the remainder of the route back to the start along the beach front.

Bird watchers and walkers will find that they have the beach here mostly to themselves as at this end of Pollenca bay it is of a scruffy nature generally chocked up with mounds of Poseidon grass and seaweed which discourages most beach goers (except for kite and wind surfers who fill the water on windy days). The dunes here are part of the protected nature park and are roped off to prevent people walking on the protected vegetation, narrow paths are marked out however and walkers can weave between protected areas and read the information boards provided which point out the indigenous flora and fauna and which birds to look out for in each area.

The inland section of the walk is a pleasant stroll through small villages, hamlets and farms; you’ll pass many beautiful Mallorcan houses and rural farmland and pastures. As you walk east you’ll see hazy purple hills rising in the distance and when the trail turns back towards the coast you’ll be rewarded with a view out across the flat wetlands to the sea. These wetlands are home to lakes and water channels in the wetter seasons and are flood zones in the winter but even in the dry heat of summer you’ll see one small lake which remains and you’ll pass occasional streams running even in the most arid summer.

This is an easy walk which is enjoyable for everyone, birdwatchers or not. Children will be amused by the abundance of farm life, goats, horses and dogs roaming around the fields and the occasional cockerel running loose through the streets. Nature lovers will be entranced by the beautiful fields, dry stone walls and rolling distant hills, and the view over the water as you walk back to the coast line is worth the hike for anyone.

Albufereta Nature Park is an easy enjoyable hike for birdwatchers, nature lovers and the whole family. Limited parking is available at the beginning of the trail and along the beach front and the regular buses that run between Puerto Pollenca and Alcudia can drop you and collect you from either end of the trail. Do stick to marked paths, as the majority of this area is privately owned land.

Location

Map of the surrounding area