SOUTHERN SPAIN

Summary

---

For our first hike in Spain, we chose the tower covered mountain directly behind our temporary residence in Benalmadena Pueblo. Why not climb what we could clearly see? The views proved extensive and the hike provided enough challenge to warrant guilt free snacking!

Trail Stats

---

Trail Details

---

Rising above the quaint white houses of Benalmadena Pueblo, Cerro Del Moro is easily identified by the many towers along its peak. Monte Castilljos is a hop and a skip away, just north. If you make it to one, you might as well complete the brief walk to the other.

The trails along these mountains interconnect into a rather extensive network of trails. There are countless options for starting points, distance and elevation. As we were staying in Benalmadena Pueblo, sans a vehicle, we chose to make this a round trip effort, though we could have certainly popped out elsewhere. Should you make a wrong turn and eventually find yourself in a town you didn’t expect, busses run frequently and there are a plethora of taxi’s around.

The hike starts at the Parque Infantile Publico “Luis Cernuda”, or more easily understood to me, the children’s park at the very end of Luis Cernuda street. A sign denotes you’re in the correct spot.

From here, immediately head to the grossest part of the hike. The tunnel under the freeway. A gated set of stairs takes you into what looks more like an oversized excess water drain than a pedestrian passage. There’s plenty of trash and graffiti. And as it had been raining, a constant stream of unpleasant drips from above. Eww. I made it through without getting dripped on. Not so much on our return.

Upon exiting the tunnel, you’ll be faced with a decision. Head right at the split onto trail GR 249 (I believe) or head straight up the gulley on PR-A 57. We chose straight up the draw. The trail is relatively easy to follow and frequently marked with posts, complete with color coded bands painted on them. The band color correlates to your chosen route. Makes things fairly easy to navigate.

After a bit of wandering through the mostly shaded gulley, the trail turns right and you’ll head upward through a series of switchbacks. This entire lower section of the trail is steep. The footing is challenging. So many loose rocks of varying sizes. Great ankle busters if you’re not careful.

Should you take your eyes off your feet, you’ll begin to be rewarded with views. The ocean appears. Then the Pueblo. Then more of Benalmadena and the surrounding villages.

Roughly 900 feet in elevation gain in, you’ll reconnect with GR 249, about 0.9 miles in. Head left. Unless you’re done. Then turn right or turn around and head back downhill. Should you continue, the trail seems to lessen in intensity now. The footing has significantly improved. There’s plenty of tree’s to provide intermittent shade. And you can now see over the hill into the valley beyond. There are rather impressive cliffs over there. Trails wend their way around the hillsides.

Soon, you’ve climbed higher than the cliffs and still higher than the ridge line they followed. At one point you may notice an offshoot trail to your left. It’s a “short cut” up the hill. It is quite steep. We came down it but bypassed on the way up. Keeping to the main trail, you’ll meet up with another trail. Turn left for the towers. Right will take you toward a gondola on different peak.

Eventually, the trail spits you out onto a paved road. I think it’s a maintenance road, though I’m not certain. Head left once again for the towers, they are clearly visible. There’s a wall that provides an excellent place to perch and take in the views. The Costa Del Sol sprawls out below you. It’s a great photo opportunity.

We chose to avoid the scant crowd of fellow hikers and a few bikers, heading instead toward Monte Castilljo. Head back down the road, pass where the trail came in at. A few paces down, there’s a trail to the right near a post. Take the trail. When it splits head right, or more accurately, uphill. Should you head left, the trail will take you towards Mija’s. That’s a little under 7 miles away.

We simply desired a nice lunch spot. There’s series of dug out stairs and wood railings near the top. And a little covered patio. Views are 360 degrees. Pick what you like best. Our only surprise was the extensive quarry nestled between two mountains marring the hillsides. Other than that, the views were stupendous. The Costa Del Sol, the Sierra Nevada’s snow capped peaks visible to the East, the Sierra de las Nieves to the distant West. Looking inland, many small towns dotted the hillsides. We chose rocky seats facing the white painted town of Mijas. You could see Gibraltar in the hazy distance. Great place to inhale a tuna sandwich. Turns out we were hungry.

Heading back down hill, we mostly retraced our steps. Took the aforementioned short cut. Someone took a mountain bike down it. They are nuts. It was shockingly steep, rutted and not much fun to walk down, let alone staying upright on a bike. I’d be off in the bushes somewhere. Likely broken and not real pleased.

The other alteration to our course was trail GR 249. It’s a tad longer than what we came in on. It’s more exposed. The added sun was lovely (we had gotten cold on the mountain top) but the added subjection to wind was less appealing. The rocky trail makes for uncertain footing. It’s still quite steep. The further down we got, the louder the freeway was. Near the bottom, it dumps you onto a connector trail. Head right. Left takes you to another trail head.

In retrospect, we decided the gulley trail was our preference, despite better views on the 249. Once back through the drippy tunnel, we popped back into the children’s park. And startled a pleasant dog into woofing at us. All with wagging tail. Met its pleasant human and had a brief petting spree with the dog. Nice fluff ball. Its human was ridiculously nice as well. Mistook us for Danish. That’s a first. Apparently Dane’s say “Hi” and we were saying “Hi” a lot (to the wiggly dog we were petting).

---