Spring arrives, the sun and good weather break through, and the desire to enjoy the natural environment flourishes. One sport that enjoys the best conditions for its practice at this time of year is canyoning, which is gaining followers almost exponentially.
This emerging sport consists of progressing through canyons or ravines, torrent beds, or mountain rivers using different techniques to overcome natural obstacles: rappelling down waterfalls with a rope, down-climbing ledges, jumping, and swimming in water pools…
The origins of canyoning date back to the beginning of the last century when the French photographer and explorer Lucien Briet (1860-1921) carried out important work collecting data and photos of a large number of canyons in the Aragonese Pyrenees. Subsequently, new adventurers made significant discoveries while improvements in exploration techniques were developed, but it was not until the 1980s that this sport began to become popular and spread worldwide.
In the province of Castellón, the first references to this sport appeared in the mid-90s when different mountain and caving groups began to identify and equip the canyons in our mountains. Currently, there are more than fifty documented descents with a wide variety of difficulty levels, although, given the climatological characteristics of the area, those with a permanent water flow are quite scarce.
Canyons such as Otanal or the Chico River are characterized by their low gradient and high limestone rock walls; they are perfect places to start this sport, even for the very young, with a focus on jumps and crystal-clear water pools. If you are looking for adrenaline, canyons like Salt del Cavall or El Centenar hold dizzying waterfalls that exceed 40 and 60 meters respectively.
Regardless of the canyon chosen, through this sport, we will see spots of great beauty that can only be accessed through the proper techniques developed during this activity. With NUCS’ certified guides, anyone can discover the natural treasures hidden in the province of Castellón.