Page Type:
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Route |
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Lat/Lon:
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38.65781°N / 0.24176°W |
Route Type:
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Hiking |
Season:
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Spring, Summer, Fall, Winter |
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Time Required:
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Half a day |
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Overview
This route is an easy hike that begins at the recreational area of the Font de Partegat, a wide parking area with some trees and cool water fountain ("font"). No real difficulties are found on the way up. At first you will follow a good dirt road, and after that you will only need to follow the signs of the local path (Sender Botánic del Passet de la Rabossa), along a good path and across the narrow gap known as Passet de la Rabossa (Pass of the Female Fox). That will place you at the upper areas of the massif, a short distance away from the summit.Getting There
The closest main city – and also the closest airport - is Alicante, placed 67 km away from the Benifato trailhead. As far as I know, there is no public transport available to reach Benifato. You might use trains or buses up to Benidorm, but after that you would need to use a car. Anyway: leave Alicante towards Valencia via highways A70 and AP7 (toll highway).After 29 km on the highway, leave it at exit number 65 (Benidorm). Cross the toll station, turn right and (in not more than a couple of hundred meters) take road CV70 to your right side. Follow it across Polop, up to Benimantell. That’s where you will need to turn left on road CV70 to reach Benifato after some additional kilometres. The village of Benifato is placed to the left of this road, but properly indicated by a road sign. Before the first house of the village, a big signboard marks (to the right) the beginning of the 4.6 kilometres narrow road to the recreational area of the Font de Partegat. It’s placed 1034 meters above sea level. You will find up there a good parking space and a cold water fountain.
Route Description
Start walking towards the mountain, leaving the parking area by means of an obvious dirt road. A yellow sign marks the local path (SL-CV10) towards Sella. The dirt road winds a little bit along the lower slopes of the climb, and soon disappears to leave you on a good path, always marked towards Sella. On this path you will cross a small col, clearly visible from the Font de Pertegat, and find a small fountain (Font de l'Arbret - fountain of the small tree) about thirty minutes after leaving your car behind. Keep going, now a little bit uphill. Soon afterwards, the path emerges on another dirt road that ends at a nearby (to your right) building. Follow this new road uphill and keep looking to your left in order not to miss the continuation of the route. A path marked as "Sender Botánic del Passet de la Rabossa" will start soon and approach the -seemingly- impossible wall in front of you. Do not worry about how are you going to make it across it, as the path will reach the narrow gap known as "Passet de la Rabossa". You will not need to use your hands to cross it, and when you find yourself on its other side it will only be a matter of turning right and start for the ridge, hiking towards the nearby "civilian" (see Aitana main page) summit of Aitana.
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Essential Gear
No real needs on this mountain. Good boots, a water bottle and maybe some food will be as nice as on any other hike. Bear in mind the mediterranean location of Aitana, always wear some kind of a hat for sun protection. Oh, yes, and maybe a couple of walking sticks to lighten the stress on your knees on the way down. As I said, nothing specialThree useful waypoints for your GPS
Font de Partegat (1034 m) - 38.657360 N / 0.241900 WFont de l’Arbret (1270 m) - 38.654690 N / 0.254630 W
Passet de la Rabossa (1475 m) - 38.649650 N / 0.255690 W