Charco del Pontón Alto River Walk, Tolox (Málaga)

22 08 2021

Charco del Ponton Alto River Walk, Tolox

This is a lovely summer river walk in the Rio Grande, on the outskirts of Tolox.
The walk meanders through the Rio Grande.
Take some old trainers for this. A walking pole was really useful in places. Overall it wasn’t slippery as expected, but some places will be slippery, so take care. Sometimes with the river flowing you can’t see where your feet go.

You have to use your judgement getting through the river which goes slightly uphill all the way to the hydroelectric power station San Eugenio. Every now and then you will have to scale up some rocks and boulders and stay close to the embankment.
About halfway you will come to a pool of water – Charco del Porton Alto (the water here was waist deep). This was the deepest part of the walk. After rains it could be a lot deeper and the currents a lot stronger.
There are other pools of water and you have various places to come out of the river including one bridge half way along.

There is some lovely wildlife about, frogs, fish, dragonflies, pond skaters, birds etc. Also different trees like eucalyptus, Holm oak, fig and also bamboo.

The waters of Rio Grande were very clear and clean.
It’s a great fun walk to do with family and friends.
You will find some locals using the pools at weekends, as I did. Weekdays should be quieter.
There are some lovely spots to have a peaceful picnic or have a shallow swim.

There are 3 options for parking.
1. Coming from Coin on the A366, just past Km47 there is Venta Las Millanas on the left, before the bridge.
2. First turning on the right past the bridge there is a recess of wasteland. This is where I usually park.
3. Or you can park close to the river taking the next turning left past the bridge.