Calblanque Regional Park facts for kids
The Calblanque Regional Park, also known as Monte de las Cenizas y Peña del Águila, is a special nature park in the southeast of Spain. It's located in the Región de Murcia, specifically in the towns of Cartagena and La Unión. This park is part of the Sierra Minera, which is a mountain range.
Even though people live and work nearby, Calblanque is one of the best-preserved areas along the Mediterranean Sea coast. This means it's important not just for nature, but also for its history and how people have lived with the land over time.
The park has a mix of very old and very new rocks. Some rocks are metamorphic, meaning they changed over time due to heat and pressure. Other parts are made of sand and dirt that settled recently. Over many years, wind and water have shaped these rocks, creating amazing features like sandy beaches, tall cliffs, natural arches, and cool cave-like shapes called tafoni.
You can find many different natural areas here, like small forests and wide sandy dunes. This variety makes it a home for many different plants and animals.
Animals of Calblanque
Calblanque is home to many interesting animals. You can spot different kinds of birds flying around. These include small white birds called little egrets, and long-legged birds like stilts and avocets. Look out for kentish plovers, audouin's gulls, and powerful birds of prey like peregrine falcons, Eurasian eagle-owls, and Bonelli's eagles.
On the ground, you might see badgers and beech martens. In the water, there are fish like Spanish toothcarps. The park also has reptiles such as Bedriaga's skinks, Montpellier snakes, and ocellated lizards. If you look closely in the sea, you might even find crinoids, which are sea creatures that look a bit like plants.
Plants of Calblanque
The park is also rich in unique plants. You can find plants like cistus heterophyllus, which are similar to rockroses. There's also asparagus macrorrhizus, which is a type of asparagus. Other plants include lotus creticus, spiky sea hollies, and pallenis maritimae, which are like small daisies. These plants are special because they can live in the sandy and salty conditions near the coast.
Cool Places to Explore
Calblanque has many beautiful spots to visit. Here are some of the most important ones:
- Cala de los Déntoles (also known as Cala Dorada) – a lovely cove.
- Peña del Águila – a hill with great views.
- Cala Arturo – another pretty cove.
- Cala del Barco – a cove that looks like a boat.
- Cabezo de la Fuente – a small hill.
- Cabezo del Horno – another small hill.
- Cala Magre – a quiet cove.
- Negrete Beach – a popular beach.
- Las Cañas Beach – a beach known for its reeds.
- Parreño Beach – another beautiful beach.
- Punta Negra – a dark-colored point of land.
- Punta Espada – a point of land shaped like a sword.
Images for kids
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Arco de los Reyes, a natural arch located within Calblanque Regional Park.
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Cala de los Déntoles, a small cove on the eastern part of Calblanque.
