Trail Snapshot
Trail:
36 km Some asphalt surface road, dirt road, wide dirt trails. While a lot of ride is descending, there is at least one large, long climb.Difficulty:
Moderate - The climbing does require a certain level of fitness. As for technical skills needed, a beginner could handle the off-road portions. You should be comfortable riding on road where automobiles are present.Outdoor Travels Rating:
4.5 bikes out of 5 bikes for scenery alone. Can you say BEAUTIFUL?!?! This route gives you a great view of your surroundings! Bonus for starting in the snow and ending up in 60 degree Spring weather!Lessons Learned
Lesons Learned:
Nuts & Bolts
Location:
Cazorla National Park, Cazorla, Spain in AndaluciaLodging:
La OróspedaThis is the little apartment we rented from Juan Benavente and his wife Fatima. It features a kitchen, living room and upstairs bedroom with a balcony. It is just right outside an entrance to Cazorla Natural Park. If you can, it helps to contact them in Spanish. Web-site Villa de Sabena
Juan's other property. It sleeps up to 17 people and is just a little outside of Cazorla. We did not stay there, but it looks like the same quality or better than our loding (above). This would be ideal for larger groups. Web-site
Bike Rental
Tierra AventuraOffering canoeing and rapelling in Cazorla Natural Park, Juan Benavente (owner) is now offering quality bike rentals and reliable and friendly guide service from Franscisco who was our guide on this ride. Juan and his wife Fatima speak some English but you will be better off e-mailing in Spanish if possible. Web-site
Bike Iberia
Bike Iberia is based in Portugal and will ship (for a price), bikes anywhere for you in Spain or Portugal. They are a good choice if you are not sure you can get rental bikes where you are going. They rent nice Specialized bikes and speak English. Web-site
Maps Links and Photos
Maps and Links:
City of Cazorla MapTrail Photos:
Lots of great photos to give you a good idea of what riding here is like!
Ruta ChorroOur ride for the day, loading up the bikes
Snow covered mountains just above our drop-off point
Dana and Kelli pose in the snow
Although it was cold, it warmed up fast as we descended
Everyone at the beginning riding
Kelli riding alon a mountain road
Francisco rides with mountains as a background
The awesome beauty of Yellow Waterfall
Kelli in front of the Yellow Fall
Dana and Francisco ride through a tunnel
Enjoying the view from a bridge where the asphalt starts again
A beautiful view of roling hills covered in olive trees near Burunchel
Mountain Biking
36KM Route in Cazorla National Park
Cazorla Natural Park, Cazorla, Spain
36km ride through the mountains around Cazorla
Dana Farnsworth, Outdoor Travels
This "semi-loop" follows a rolling counterclockwise route to Cazorla from a high point at Nacimiento Rio Guadalquivir that can be easily modified by looking at the trail map and linking up other roads that take you back to Cazorla. This particular route will challenge your lungs will at least one long uphill climb and will dazzle your eyes with the diverse scenery you'll experience!
For our second ride in Cazorla Natural Park we were invited by our lodging owners Juan and Fatima, to take a ride with them into the mountains where they would drop us off for a ride back to Cazorla. We met with them around 9:00 in the morning where we found that they had invited all of their 13 year-old son's friends to go along about 10 of them to be exact.
The kids piled into Juan's ancient Range Rover while Kelli, Francisco (our guide for the day) and myself rode in Fatima's Renault. We hadn't expected such a coordinated group experience, but we were more than happy to be their guests. We followed our previous biking route into Cazorla Natural Park through La Iruela.
Once again, it was around the point of the hotel Rio Gazas that the dirt road begins. At this point it wasn't a big deal that we were not in a 4x4 like the other vehicle in our caravan. As we climbed ever higher we enjoyed the views of the valley and village below. Occasionally we would spot a wild goat; fairly common in this area and resemble a smaller version of a North American Mountain Goat.
We passed El Chorro, the point we stopped at on the previous day's ride, and continued upward. Further up the road we took the first right at Nacimiento Rio Guadalquivir. Here we began spotting patches of snow on the ground and snow capped peaks above us. As we climbed higher and it got colder I was beginning to wonder how far we were going to go. In shorts, I was concerned about how cold the first part of our ride might be. Kelli inquired as to where we were going and Fatima replied that we were going to start at a lower elevation, but for now, Juan wanted to take a few pictures of his company's Range Rover in the snow.
The Renault I was in got stuck in deep snow on the road and couldn't continue. It was at this time Juan decided to stop and take pictures of his truck. All the kids in the back piled out like rats running out of a sewer. They flopped around in the snow and ran around like they had never seen snow before. They were having a very good time as I froze my ass off standing there in shorts. After a few photos Juan managed to turn the car and his truck around on the narrow mountain road and we headed about a kilometer back down to begin our ride.
As we were getting the bikes off of the rack, Fatima began dressing Kelli and I with warm clothes that she had with her. It was interesting for me to try to put on her coat, but I accepted and was happy for the extra layer. Francisco had riding tights on under his pants; when he doffed his outer layer I had the great idea of asking to borrow them. The biggest problem was my large American ass. Franci is about "a buck twenty-five", which is to say he is quite lean. I couldn't even get his trousers beyond my thighs; so much for that idea.
Finally we set off. The route initially was downhill. The kids took off in a buzzing nest of prepubescent energy. When we reached the Nacimiento Rio Guadalquivir we unexpectedly parted ways with the kids. Seems Juan and Fatima were going to follow them back down the way we came up in the cars and we were going to ride with Franci on a longer more strenuous route. We hadn't expected this at all, but to be honest, I was happy to be on a ride where we would get to see something different from our previous days ride. At Nacimiento Rio Guadalquivir the kids took a left, which is a direct route back to Cozorla and we went right at a junction that was marked with a sign indicating Cazorla was 34 km in that direction. As we descended, Kelli and I marveled at the site of the mountains, waterfalls and the vegetation that became greener the more we descended.
The road surface here is dirt and fairly well manicured. It was hard to ride at a brisk pace at all, as Kelli and I could barely take our eyes off of the scenery. We passed a beautiful long waterfall that spilled across yellow-tinted rocks. Later we took a short break in front of a small tunnel that was fun to ride through. Most of the ride so far had been either gradual downhill or gradual uphill. Franci mentioned to Kelli that he liked riding at this pace, because he didn't normally stop to look around when he rides with his friends. The scenery is so beautiful here that I can't imagine anyone getting so jaded that they don't look around. Franci was having a good time pointing out several wild goats for us to attempt to take a picture of. Most often I got a picture of their butt as they walked away the second I raised the camera.
After entering a valley area, we stopped at Puente de las Herreias for lunch. Puente de las Herreias is a recreation area that looks like it's quite popular in the Summer. For now, we had it mostly to ourselves as we sat by a river and ate our omnipresent cured ham sandwich (cured ham is everywhere in this region). After a nice lunch, we mounted back up and started riding again. The road surface was now back to asphalt as we rode through an area of lower elevation.
Soon we passed a campground on our left that is made up little cabins with a central building that has a tapas bar, of course! It wasn't open yet, but looked like it could be a good base for riding in Cazorla Natural Park, if you didn't want to stay in Cazorla. Soon after a small climb we came to the first intersection from the point where we split from the other group, and bared to the left. This intersection can be a little confusing as the sign at the junction that read "Cazorla" pointed to the direction we had come from. Kelli couldn't get a good translation from Franci as to why it seemingly pointed the wrong direction, but it didn't matter, as we continued on.
Soon after we came to a bridge over a river. I'm sorry to be so vague, but after reviewing all three of my maps, I can't find a name for the river. It was very pretty though. We stopped to take a few pictures. It's at this point heading towards Vadillo Castril that a long uphill crank begins. Approximately one kilometer after the bridge there is another intersection where we stayed to the right and continued up a mountain. At the next intersection, which looks to be around three or four kilometers from the last, we stayed to the left. The road took us through a forested mountainside. The elevation was giving us an impressive view of the valley below. We passed through a burned area on our way to the top at Puerto de las Palomas where we stopped at a mirador (lookout) for a rest. The view of the wooded valley in the park was certainly impressive.
At this point the ride was a well-deserved downhill back to Cazorla. This stretch of road was, believe it or not, as beautiful and interesting as anything I had seen in the park. As we headed towards Burunchel, we had majestic mountains to our left and beautiful rolling olive grove covered hills to our right. As we headed towards La Iruela we rode through several small towns, one of which has a castle perched on a high precipice above the tiny town. Several busses of tourist were pilling out to take a gander. With all the diverse scenery, I really enjoyed this portion of the ride. All too soon we entered La Iruela and then Cazorla and back to our little apartment, where we enjoyed an after ride glass of wine and chatted about our incredible ride.
Cazorla National Park Overview
The Spanish designation, "nature park", refers to mixed use natural areas with an emphasis on recreation and conservation rather than other types of activities - they are not like National Parks in the United States. This is the largest park of its kind in Spain, and one of the premier wilderness recreation zones in western Europe, renowned throughout the continent through the many nature documentaries that have been made there. This range is the experienced hiker's and biker's paradise. Reaching about 2,200 metres (7,000 feet) in height, it is criss-crossed with hundreds of kilometres of trails that climb in and out of the lush pine forest, move along rugged cliff faces and exposed heights of land and form a lattice which provides access to virtually all of the sierra. Originally, they evolved as the mule and donkey roads and were the economic lifeblood of the sierra for thousands of years. Although not for the most part signed, they are well marked on the topographic maps.
Abundant in the forest, and regularly sighted once away from populated areas, are mountain goats, mountain sheep, wild boar and two species of deer. On the cliff faces thrive several species of eagle, falcon and vulture. And the range, because of its unusual microclimate, supports a wide variety of flora that are distinct to the area.
Besides hiking, other activities include camping (only in approved areas), fishing, hunting and mountain biking. Also, several companies offer 4x4 excursions to restricted wilderness portions of the park. The lake behind the hydroelectric dam at Tranco de Beas is being developed for watersports.
The park, measuring some 850 square miles, or 214,000 hectares, is a UNESCO Biosphere Reserve. Omni Resources carries the topographic map series for the area.
You can locate this one-of-a-kind natural wonder on your map of Spain by following the Guadalquivir River valley up from its mouth at Cádiz, at the extreme southwest corner of the Iberian peninsula, past Sevilla, Córdoba and Jaén and through the towns of Cazorla and La Iruela to its source, which is the sentimental and symbolic heart of the Parque Natural de las Sierras de Cazorla, Segura y Las Villas.
There are many activities to do within the park. Trekking, biking, canoeing and repelling along with rock climbing and mountaineering are all possible. In Cazorla there are many places to hire a 4x4 to drive you deep into the park for a wonderful sight-seeing tour. There is also a possibility of hiring them to shuttle you and your bike to a spot in the park from which you may ride back. Some of these companies also offer organized rock climbing, rapelling and canoeing excursions.
City of Cazorla Overview
Situated below the Pena de los Halcones, the village's narrow and steep rising streets from an environment of beautiful architecture create a sight to behold. Two castles of Muslim origin sit perched above the city. The town is home to approximately 10,000 residents. Beer, cured ham and tapas (small plates of food) are not only predominant here, they are omnipresent; expect to enjoy the local cuisine in the form of an ever changing variety of tapas washed down with a little beer. The people of Cazorla are friendly and helpful. You'll just need to get passed their initial dour expressions to find a smiling, friendly and helpful person. Not much English is spoken here so it is a good idea to brush up on your conversational Spanish before visiting.
There are two places to rent bikes in Cazorla. One is just off the main square where busses drop people off. The other is through Tierra Aventura who also offers a great guide service.
