Walking in the Serranía de Ronda

Who doesn’t know the historical city of Ronda in Southern Spain, famous for it’s history of bandoleros who lived in the nearby Sierras. Well, these mountains are called the Serranía de Ronda and consist of the Sierra de las Nieves and the Sierra the Grazalema, both UNESCO Biosphere reserves. This area offers a magnificent scenery for hiking.

There are three Long Distance Hiking Trails (Gran Recorrido in Spanish): GR243 -“Sierra de las Nieves” – goes from Ronda to Istán via El Burgo, Yunquera and Tolox. GR249 – “Gran Senda de Málaga” – crosses the entire province of Málaga. GR7 crosses the whole of Andalucía, and part of it goes from El Burgo to Cortes de la Frontera via Ronda. Besides these GR there are over 30 Senderos (trails) in the Serranía, varying from 1 to 10 miles. They are all listed on www.ventanadelvisitante.es, the portal of the Andalucian protected Areas. Of all trails a description in Pdf can be downloaded, of some a GPS track as well. Some Senderos are signposted as Short Distance Hiking Trails (PR, Pequeño Recorrido in Spanish).

Good hiking maps are the Sierra de Grazalema (2014) en Sierra de las Nieves (2004) of Editorial Penibética; an English edition is available. For some trails in the Sierra de Grazalema (Pinar, Garganta Verde, Torreón) a special permission is required; they van be obtained in the Visitors Centre in El Bosque (T +34 956 709733). English spoken.

Enjoy the sierras