A comfortable and attractive short-duration walk that allows us to discover the traces and marks left by what was once a tropical forest during the Carboniferous period, 300 million years ago.

The Fossil Forest of Verdeña is actually a long and peculiar vertical wall of hard stone, 150 meters long and 18 meters high, with distinctive reliefs drawn on it. Its discovery took place during the second half of the last century when an open-pit coal mining operation was carried out, which was very common in these mountains at the time. Geologists deciphered the meaning of these reliefs, discovering that they were marks left by the remains of tree trunks, stumps, and roots of what was once a tropical forest during the Carboniferous period.

The route starts in the charming village of Verdeña, which is accessed via the PP-2174 road after passing Estalaya. From the parking lot at the entrance of the village, we climb some stairs and continue along a cobbled street that passes under a passage, then we take the left-hand path that leaves the village and connects with the trail that, crossing an attractive oak grove, will lead us to the beginning of the fossil forest at approximately 1.6 km of our route.

An interpretive panel at the start of the route explains the origin of the tropical forest and the subsequent formation of the fossil forest. Along the rocky wall, various interpretive panels explain the details of the reliefs and visible traces throughout the wall. This rocky wall of Verdeña, with the reliefs and traces left by a fossil forest, is of such magnitude and relevance that it is considered one of the most important of its kind in Spain.

After completing our walk through the fossil forest, and after a short distance, we pass by a viewpoint with attractive views of Peña Celada. A little further ahead, at approximately 2 km, we reach the Mirador de la Pernía, which has an interpretive panel about the surrounding mountains. On the way back to Verdeña, we pass through another attractive oak grove with some centuries-old specimens, and crossing the village once again, we reach the end of our walk.