Chíllar River

Most of the river runs through the Sierras of Tejeda, Almijara and Alhama Natural Park, which is always open to the public.[1] The catchment area is 54 square kilometres (21 sq mi).[2] Discharge is 0.2 cubic metres per second (7.1 cu ft/s). The river descends from an altitude of 1,761 metres (5,778 ft) to the sea. The rocks are 98.1% carbonate, 1.9% siliceous.[3] The river has eaten out the limestone of the Sierra de Almijara] to create a deep canyon.[4]

In 1997 the municipality of Nerja launched a plan to stop the dumping of building rubble and garbage into the lower section of the river, and to make this section suitable for recreational use.[5]

A walk up the river to the "Vado de Los Patos" (Duck's Ford) pool starts at the "los Almachares" asphalt road, which runs under the A-7 motorway to a concrete factory, turns to gravel and leads to the entrance to the park.[1] Further up the route leads along the bed of the river, which is normally just ankle deep, but may be up to a foot deep at times.[1] At 4 kilometres (2.5 mi) into the park the river runs through three narrow crevasses in the mountain just 1 metre (3 ft 3 in) wide but more than 20 metres (66 ft) deep.[1]

At 8 kilometres (5.0 mi) the "Vado de Los Patos" pool is fed by a small waterfall, and provides a place for swimming.[1] Above El Vado de los Patos the going is harder. About 2 kilometres (1.2 mi) higher the river crosses La Presa (The Dam), which holds a reservoir that feeds irrigation channels that run along one side of the river valley.[6]