Parque Cinegético Collado del Almendral — Attraction in Hornos

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This was a great experience, much better than I had imagined it would be.

There are two parts to the visit: the trip on the train (really a tractor pulling coaches), then the walk through the hillside vegetation to the various viewpoints.

We enjoyed it all.

When you first arrive and park, there's a white building but no information about where to go or what to do. There are closed dog kennels here for you to leave your pet - unsupervised - while you take part in the visit.

You need to buy your ticket; there are no signs, but you must go upstairs in the building to the shop and buy them there before the train arrives. 7€ for children and over 65s, €9 for the rest of you. You can buy sandwiches and drinks here too, although you must not eat or drink on the train as this could encourage the animals to put their heads in the carriages. You can have a picnic at the end, as part of your walk - there are tables on occasion, and benches a-plenty.

You then wait downstairs by the drinks machine (out of order on our visit in April 2017) for the train, which seems to have no timetable. You then pile in, tickets are checked, and off you go.

The train goes through distance-activated gates to take you into wild mountain country where the animals are kept. It makes 4 stops at points where there are lots of animals - who come rushing up as the driver provides food pellets for them - so that you can take photos.

The driver also gives very interesting and informative talks about the 4 species, but all in Spanish of course. If you won't be able to understand this - and A-level Spanish is not going to get you through it - then I suggest that you before you go you google the 4 species so that you have the background information.

Red deer Fallow deer Mouflon Iberian mountain goat

I was expecting to see wild boar, but on reflection realised that they were too dangerous to include in a zone where there is fairly close contact with humans.

After 45 minutes, the driver goes through another gate and stops to let you off. There is a gravel path - totally unsuitable for those with walking difficulties - that leads uphill to three different viewing points. The first is 10 minutes stroll, the second is a further 10 minutes, making 40 minutes there and back. At this point there are birds of prey and a talk about them and falconry.

The final viewpoint is another 20 or so minutes up an extremely steep path - not for the faint-hearted.

Our hearts were very faint and we didn't even attempt it, having been advised by the sign that it was of medium to high difficulty.

The walk was lovely (although going down was better than going up!), the views just wonderful.

Overall a great visit, and good lavatories next to the shop and...

This was our last morning of a 3 night stay in the area: ,46 ten/eleven year old children and their teachers. After the exciting activities we'd already done, I thought this might be a bit of a let down, seeing a few animals we'd probably already seen. None of it! Although the train at first made you feel like you were about to embark on a ride along Weston-Super-Mare seafront, you soon forgot about that as we passed through the animal enclosure gates to begin the experience. The wooded scenery itself and the accompanying smells immediately heightened the senses and the kids picked up on the movement of creatures in the distance long before I did. First of all, wild boar appeared with their piglets in tow and the kids' fascination grew as they were followed and overtaken by reindeer and a species of long-horned goats. The animals, of course, knew what was to follow, as they pursued the train until it stopped abruptly and one of the two wardens got out to explain the nature of the creatures and feed them some kind of cattle cake. This stop-go routine was repeated several times and the kids seemed to naturally have no inclination to touch the animals, although it would have been easy to do so, the scene being so natural that I think they felt that they would be intruding to have done so. Eventually, we had to pass through the exit gate but not before seeing some stunning scenery to our right including a huge lake and a wonderful mountain backdrop towering over it. Worth the visit just to see some...

MIENTEN NO TIENEN GUARDERIA DE MASCOTAS

Llamamos unos días antes para confirmar la reserva y la Supuesta residencia para los animales de compañía lo cual te encuentras 4 casetas 3 de ellas sin apenas un metro cúbico y una de 1x1 sin vigilancia al sol y ni un toldo protegiendo, os recomiendo que al menos pongan una alambrada donde los perros tengan algo de movilidad ya que el tren dura dos horas, y estamos a 40 grados aparte que tiene acceso a lo llamado guardería cualquiera que puede abrir la puerta o que le muerda si el perro se siente amenazado . Me parece pésimo ya que me perdido la experiencia familiar porque encima no tenían lugar ya que la estaba ocupados los 4 lugares por llamarlo así aparte que no ahí ganas de atender entiendo que estemos en agosto y hay una gran afluencia de turismo pero la organización fuera del tren tiene mucho que mejorar de verdad ya que en un lugar donde se admiten animales un tren con 30 personas seguramente haya más de 4 animales ocupando lo llamado guardería ( los que dejan sin remedio y comprendidos ya que la mayoría de los que venimos llevamos horas de viaje , familias difíciles de controlar si uno de ellos se queda con el animal sin contar los gastos ) por el cual la gente os deja el animal en lo llamado guardería

Por cierto la palabra guardería queda bonita pero significa Una guardería canina es un lugar especializado en el cuidado y atención de perros. Aquí, reciben supervisión y cariño por parte de personal capacitado mientras sus dueños están ocupados, ausentes o necesitan un espacio para que su mascota socialice y se diviertan . Mas menos como hacen con el resto de animales que cuidan )

Lo que ustedes tienen son jaulas. Que para eso sean claros ya que cambia mucho la cosa y de haberme dicho cuando pregunte varias veces por la supuesta guardería hubiera buscado un lugar donde dejarla ya que después de las horas de viaje y todo la gente se lleva un mal sabor de este maravilloso lugar pero sinceramente no admitan animales si van a estar así y la gente buscará una solución para poder disfrutar de...