Charca de las Nutrias

The Malaga side of the Mediterranean is full of these small rivers that rise somewhere up in the hills and quietly wind their way down to the coast, and the Castor is one of the nicer ones to get to know. Along its course there's a charming little pond called Charca de las Nutrias, tucked into a stretch of rock that's much prettier than you'd expect from a river this modest.

To get there, take exit 16 off the A-7 and follow the paved road in, using the entrance to the Camino del Castro Cultural Park as your landmark, it's just over three kilometres from there to the pond. Budget more time than for the shorter walk to El Padrón though, this one runs longer, a few kilometres in total from the parking by the motorway before you reach the water. The path has a few steeper, trickier stretches along the way, nothing that needs real hiking gear, but watch your footing on the loose rock.

It's worth every step. The surroundings only get better as you go, and it's barely any distance from Estepona, so on a scorching summer day this is exactly the kind of place you want to know about.

Once you're at the pond, or wandering the river around it, you'll notice deeper pockets that never get too deep even in summer, so it stays a manageable place to cool off rather than a real swim. What really catches the eye though is what the water has done to the rock over time, wearing it down into these smooth white marble surfaces. It's not the only place in the province where you'll find marble like this, quarries in the Sierra de Mijas have been worked since Roman times and the stone from them ended up all over the Iberian peninsula and the Mediterranean, so there's something nice about stumbling on a living reminder of that history halfway through a hike.

Las Nutrias makes a good base if you want to keep exploring the riverbed further, there are more unusual rock formations both up and downstream. Just take the usual precautions, plenty of water and sun protection, since shade gets scarce along the exposed rock walls that line the Castor here. The area around the Camino del Castro also has a handful of trails that are popular with mountain bikers, worth combining if you fancy it, but otherwise this is simply a lovely spot to hike, cool off and enjoy the nature around you.