Castila La Mancha is one of the least visited parts of Spain but it is up there with the best of the country’s Regions in terms of natural beauty. We were on our way from Madrid to Cuenca City in La Mancha (where we had booked a couple of nights in the NH Hotel) but; we had built in some time to spend a couple of nights beforehand at a campsite in the tiny village of Canamares. This would allow us to see a little more of the beautifully wild countryside that is Castila La Mancha.
We drove to Canamares by way of Sacedon in the Guadalajara Province of Castile La Mancha and this road took us across the top of the Embalse de Entrepenas dam. There’s a rest area on the south side of the dam and from there I was able to walk back along the top of the dam for some fine photo opportunities across the reservoir. This has to be one of the more attractive reservoirs in Spain but better was to come…
Canamares is tiny; just 582 people at the last count. It sits by the Rio Escabes in the Parque Natural Serrania de Cuenca and it is at the heart of what is known as the Ruta de Mimbre (the Wicker Route).
The whole area is brimming with beautiful lakes, mountains, ravines and, surprise, surprise… the most gorgeous wicker! Yes, wicker, but this is not just any wicker. Wicker is made from various natural sources including cane and rattan (from palms), bamboo, reeds and of course willow. The wicker produced on the Ruta de Mimbre (which stretches 25 miles between the villages of Albalate de las Nogueres and Beteta) is obtained from a particular bush of the willow family and every winter (from late November onwards) it transforms the fields hereabouts into something quite unique and wholly spectacular.
The village is quiet and with few amenities. I noticed a small hotel, a general store, a bank, the village church and there must have been two or three bar-restaurants although only one bar was open when I visited. I didn’t bother with it. There is a bar-restaurant alongside the campsite which, although basic, seemed very popular with the locals (it was busy throughout the time we were there) and they offered simple rustic food which kept me happy, if not Vanya.
Despite it’s fairly large size, Camping La Dehesa was very quiet with just two or three other families staying over while we were there but, as stated previously, La Mancha doesn’t get too many tourists compared to the rest of Spain and we were well out of season. It didn’t bother us, it is a beautiful area and proved a fine place from which to explore a couple of other villages on the Ruta de Mimbre, notably Priega and Beteta.