Cycling around Parc Natural de s'Albufera 17 km

Cycle tour through the Parc Natural de s’Albufera (https://en.balearsnatura.com/parque_natural/parc-natural-de-salbufera-de-mallorca/). Cycle tour for ordinary bikes mainly on gravel roads. I rented a bike in nearby Can Picafort, but there are plenty of other places nearby where you can rent a bike. The entrance is from the Pont des Anglesos on the Ma-12. The nature park is an extraordinary park with marshes, lakes, reed land with sweet and brackish water, and a large number and variety of birds (https://www.birdingplaces.eu/en/birdingplaces/spain/salbufera-de-mallorca), so do not forget your binoculars. I saw among others a purple swamphen, hoopoe, flamingoes, glossy ibis, purple herons, squacco herons, black-crowned night herons, marsh harriers, avocets, black-winged stilts, and a whole range of ducks, waders and warblers. There are a lot of hides and platforms for looking at birds, and I visited some of them during this trip. You need a permit to visit the park which can be obtained for free at the reception (see waypoint). Also a map is available at reception and on the website mentioned above. The park is opened from 9 to 18 in summer, but for birdwatchers a special permit can be obtained at reception during normal opening hours allowing a visit as early as sunrise. A few days later I visited early for a hike, see https://nl.wikiloc.com/routes-wandelen/albufera-natural-park-hike-with-birdwatching-8-km-114158434/ Scenery without much shade, so take enough water.
From the Pont des Anglesos you ride along the Canal Gran to the reception. From the observation deck Es Canal Gran you have a view of trees full of breeding herons and ibis (in season). In the reception you pick up your permit (and a special permit if you want to come back later at sunrise), and a map. You continue to the Pont de sa Roca across the Canal Gran, and then take the gravel road Camí des Senyals north, with reed lands left and salt marshes to the right. After 1.1 km you arrive to a spot where you park your bike to walk to the bird hide Es Colombars, with good views of a brackish lake with plovers, ducks, waders, flamingoes etc. You walk back to your bike and continue along the gravel road until the gate at the dead-end of this road. The lake on your right is full of herons, ducks and grebes. You turn back to the Pont de sa Roca and just before the bridge turn right on the Cami d’Enmig. This gravel road in parallel to Canal Gran takes you past an observation tower to a gate on Ma-3433, where you can enter or exit the park with a bike. You cross the canal on the Ma-3433 and then follow the Cami des Forcadets, another gravel road through reed land, past another observation tower with a lake view to the Torrent de Muro. You cross this water and then continue on the Cami des Polls. This gravel road exits the park after about 2.5 km. You follow a minor asphalt road a while and then enter the park again and get to another observation tower with a view of a lake. You continue on the Cami des Molines and at a closed gate turn left on the Cami de Ses Puntes. There are some platforms on this gravel road, from one of which is saw the purple swamphen. The road ends at the entrance road at Canal Gran and you go back to the entrance at Pont des Anglesos.