From our base in Nerja on Costa del Sol we made a day trip inland through the Sierra Nevada to Granda for some hiking in Parque Nacional de Sierra Nevada. The Sierra Nevada National Park was at one time the largest national park in Spain, stretching from the Alpujarra to El Marquesado and the Lecrin Valley, covering a total area of 85,883 hectares/212,222 acres. Much of the landscape was shaped by the action of glaciers and these days the park is even home to a ski resort at Monachil Sierra Nevada (I had no idea there were ski resorts this far south in Spain…).
Our hike started at the small village of Monachil on the outskirts of Granda. The route was something we chose with the kids in mind, we thought they’d enjoy the handful of suspension bridges and narrow canyons the trail traversed on the way up Ruta de Los Cahorros. The first mile or two out of the village were pretty uneventful and followed a meandering creek through the undergrowth, but when the towering walls of the canyon came into view all of us were having trouble keeping our eyes on the trail.
The central part of our hike upRuta de Los Cahorros made its way through some very narrow sections of the gorge that were remnants of an old hydroelectric project. The sheer walls of the cliffs seemed to go upwards forever, quite a few rock climbers were enjoying the faces and there were lots of chalk marks we could see on the rock as we hiked. Some of the scrambles around the rocks whilst holding onto handles drilled into the rock were quite fun, we were thankful for the relics of the old hydroelectric project otherwise we would have been wading in the stream.
To get back to Monachil we had to hike out of the gorge and up onto the Sierra Nevada plateau, where we enjoyed some stunning views of the national park and found a great spot to enjoy our sandwiches overlookingRuta de Los Cahorros below. The temperature was hovering around 26°C/79°F when we visited, seemingly pleasant but it actually had us all feeling quite hot and parched in the desert-like landscape. I’d hate to think how hot it must get in summer in this southern inland portion of Spain. The landscape reminded both Lisa and me a lot of Zion National Park from our visit a few years back.
Given we were in Granada we attempted a quick visit to the famous Alhambra on the outskirts of the city post-hiking. The Spanish government limits the number of visitors inside the historic palace at any one time, and unfortunately when we arrived all the tickets were sold out for the day. We didn’t realize just how many tourists the UNESCO World Heritage Site receives before we stopped by: an incredible 2.7 million per year! We were still able to view some of the structure from the outside, and from the photos I’ve seen it appears a lot of the interior sections are similar to the Royal Alcázar of Seville, which we’d seen a few days earlier. So not all was lost… But next time we’ll remember to buy tickets ahead of time (and if we visit in summer, supposedly one needs to book more than six weeks ahead if a cool morning time slot is desired!).
Indiana Jones revisited in the park. What great movie sets!