Walking – Spanish Trails

For a contribution of £8 towards my costs, I will send you by email a comprehensive set of directions for 30 walks in this area along with sketch maps.

I will also try to give you tailor-made instructions to meet any specific requirements you may have.

To proceed, email me on info@spanishtrailsco.com and I will tell you how.

These are the walks:

No.	Walk	Grade	Distance (kms)	Ascent (metres)
1	La Maroma from Canillas de Aceituno	S	20	1500
2	La Maroma from Llanos de Sedella	M	12	650
3	La Maroma circuit and down to Sedella	VS	22	1500
4	Almanchares ravine	E	8	140
5	Sedella to Canillas de Aceituno	M	12	825
6	El Fuerte from Sedella	M	12	700
7	Sedella to Los Picaricos	M	11	700
8	Canillas de Albaida to Sedella	M	13	640
9	Canillas de Albaida to Salares one-way walk round trip	M S	10 16	530 800
10	Canillas de Albaida to Cerro Gavilan via Cruz de Canillas	M	12	650
11	Canillas de Albaida to Casa de la Mina	M	15	710
12	Canillas de Albaida/Archez/Competa circuit	M	12	650
13	Cerro Verde and Cerro Atalaya	M to S	13	800
14	Malas Camas	VS	20	1250
15	El Lucero from La Fábrica	VS	22	1400
16	El Lucero circuit from Puerto Blanquillo	VS	13	950
17	The Silk Route and La Fábrica	M	14	570
18	Puerto Collado and the Silk Route circuit	M	14	450
19	Puerto de Frigiliana	S	18	1050
20	El Acebuchal and Cerro Verde	M to S	17	660
21	El Daire and the southern Lucero ridge – short route long route	M VS	9 19	800 1500
22	Summit of El Cisne (short and very steep)	S	9	915
23	Acebuchal to Nerja via Puerto Umbrales	S VS	18 or 20	850 or 1200
24	Frigiliana to El Fuerte	E	9	730
25	Nerja to Los Galgos via Rio Chillar	M	17	950
26	Nerja Caves to Frigiliana or Nerja via el Pinarillo	M S	15 18	950 1000
27	Navachica summit from Fuente de Esparto	VS	17	1350
28	Tajo El Almendron and La Puerta	VS	15	1050
29	El Cielo	VS	14	1250
30	La Lopera	E	9	320

Notes:

Gradings are: VS – very strenuous; S – strenuous; M – moderate; E – easy. The gradings are subjective, as what one person finds easy another may find difficult.

The distances and ascents are approximate.

Although care has been taken in preparing this information, no guarantees are given as things can change. Walkers undertake these walks entirely at their own risk.

This year saw a long and cold winter in Spain, and it went on in some parts until well into April and even later. In central and northern areas it is normal to have quite deep snow at high levels until well into June, and this year has been no exception.

On a trip to the Sierra de Guadarrama this April, I had to alter some of my walking programme because, even if winter skills are not really necessary, the deep snow can make some of the walks gruelling. Kicking steps into fresh snow can be great fun, but is not something I would want to do all day long!

But there is a lot of great walking below the snow levels, and where the snow is not quite so deep. So, for example, we were able to reach some of the tops in La Pedriza and the summit of La Maliciosa at over 2,000 metres, but did not go up Peñalara, the highest of the Guadarrama peaks. In any case we were warned of severe avalanche risk on Peñalara in April, so I saved it for later in the year.

Now we are into June the snow is no longer a problem, but for the rest of the high summer that problem is surpassed by heat! For me personally, the walking season in central and southern Spain is over until the autumn. I will be moving on to the north, to the Pyrenees, to the Picos de Europa, and/or to Somiedo, where the summer months are in many ways an ideal time. However, my personal choice is normally to go in September, when snow is not a problem, when temperatures remain warm but temperate, and then most Spanish walkers have gone home from their annual holidays.

Tag: Walking

Walks in the Sierras Almijara and Tejeda

The Snow in Spain