Sierra de las Nieves and the GR243

On bus journeys between Malaga and Ronda, I had noted that the route skirted a parque natural called the Sierra de las Nieves. The area looked interesting, was very convenient for Malaga, and seemed well documented on various websites, despite not being covered in the usual English-language guides. I found that there was a long-distance footpath, the GR243, that ran between Ronda and Istán/Ojén in the hills above Marbella and I decided to base my trip around walking part of this route, travelling “From Monda to Ronda” (I feel my own BBC2 series coming on).

Costs. Flight £82. Car parking £26. Monda room (B&B) €45. Tolox hotel €42. GR243 hostel (B&B) €19.60. Ronda hotel (B&B) €28.50. Malaga–Guaro bus €5.39. Tolox–Aloziana–Yunquera buses €2.34. Ronda–Malaga bus €10.75. Typical evening meal with drinks €8–€31. Total cost of trip £290.

Places I stayed and was happy with. Huerta de Nelson, near Monda (Day 1, Read my review); Cerro de Hijar, near Tolox (Day 2, Read my review); La Rejertilla, near El Burgo (Day 3, Read my review); Hotel Colón, Ronda (Day 4, Read my review).

Books. The Rough Guide to Andalucía (Rough Guides, 9th edition). Note that in my 7th edition there is no mention whatsoever of the towns of El Burgo, Yunquera, Tolox, Guaro or Monda, nor indeed of the entire Sierra de las Nieves. An amazing omission due, I can only assume, to poor editing.

Maps. I used these GR243 route maps that I printed off the web. I suspect that some of these maps are several decades old as things like overhead power lines seem to have moved since the maps were made.

Day 1: Travel to Guaro; walk to Monda. Left home at 4.15 am and drove to Edinburgh Airport, entering the terminal at 5.25 am. The plane left on time and landed in Malaga at 10.20 am (local time). Got the 10.54 am cercanías (commuter train) into the city and caught the 12 noon Portillo bus to Guaro, arriving 1.50 pm. Starting walking at 2 pm along the GR243, heading south towards Monda (my B&B for the night was halfway between Monda and Guaro and this way I would not have to walk the same route twice). Arrived in Monda at 4.20 pm (so 2 h 20 min walking) and had a nice cold beer. I then headed north along dirt backroads, getting lost a couple of times, and found my excellent B&B (pre-booked) at 5.50 pm. My British host very kindly gave me a lift back into Monda for dinner at 7.30 pm and then I walked back along the main road this time (the head torch was useful) to the B&B.

Day 2: Walk to Tolox. After a hearty cooked breakfast on the garden terrace, I left at 10 am and walked along dirt backroads to Guaro, arriving 10.40 am. There I picked up the GR243 again and followed it to Tolox, arriving 3.30 pm (so 5 h 30 min walking). I had pre-booked my hotel for the night at the last minute, assuming it to be in the village. However, I was very mistaken... It was 3.2 km outside the village and several hundred metres higher up the mountain (with stunning views down to the village). It was hot and I was tired after my walk and so I phoned the hotel and they, very helpfully, sent a car down to collect me. That evening I splashed out on the most expensive and yet nicest (by far) dinner of my trip.

Day 3: Bus to Yunquera; walk to La Rejertilla. I left the hotel at 8.05 am, before they started serving breakfast (my deal was room-only). I walked down the mountain road to Tolox village, arriving 8.35 am. I then caught the 9 am bus to Yunquera: this had not been my original plan but it made sense in view of the hot weather and my error with the hotel location. The bus went first to Aloziana, where we changed bus, and then up a very scenic road, arriving in Yunquera at 9.35 am. I bought some water, had a coffee, and picked up the GR243 again at 10.20 am. The first stretch was a dirt road that climbed up to the Puerto del Saucillo mirador at about 1200 m above sea-level; I arrived there at 12.20 pm. The path then became a well marked forest track and I reached the picnic area at Los Sauces at 3.20 pm and a junction between the GR243 track and a dirt road heading directly down to El Burgo at 4.15 pm. Here I left the GR243 and headed down the El Burgo track for 35 min to find the La Rejertilla hostel (pre-booked) at 4.50 pm (so 7 h walking in total). After a simple dinner at 7.30 pm and with my unheated room growing cold under clear November skies, I went to bed at 8.20 pm.

Day 4: Walk to Ronda. After breakfast, I left the hostel at 9.15 am and retraced my steps for 35 min to return to the GR243. I then took a track that cut across directly to the El Burgo–Ronda section of the GR243, thus saving me the long, long hike into and out of El Burgo. This shortcut is clearly signposted and shown on all the GR243 maps. I reached the official GR243 path again at 11 am, near some forestry workers who, rather alarmingly, were doing a controlled burning of the undergrowth. A sign at this point says “Ronda 15.5 km”. I descended to a stream bed and lost all sign of the path. Over the next 50 min, I tried all possible alternatives and was on the point of retracing my steps and walking into El Burgo for the bus to Ronda, when I stumbled across the GR markers again. The route was then a long steady climb up through some glorious open mountain scenery, past the Lifa farmstead, and up over the Puerto de Lifa pass at 1200 m altitude. The track then descended, with Ronda coming into view, and the last hour of the walk was a rather dull trudge on the flat between cultivated fields. I arrived on the outskirts of Ronda at 4.10 pm (so 6 h 55 min walking) and had a beer. I reached my charming budget hotel (pre-booked), which I had stayed in before in 2012, at 5 pm and then later went for dinner.

Day 5: Travel home. I left the hotel before breakfast was served (I was given a packed breakfast instead) and caught the 7 am Los Amarillos bus to Malaga, arriving 8.45 am. I had coffee and a cake in the train station and then took the cercanías out to the airport for my 11.20 am flight home. My plane landed at 1.45 pm (local time) and I was home, after driving through some atrocious weather, at 3.45 pm.

Wildlife seen. Horseshoe Whip Snake, Stonechat, Siskin, Southern Hawker, Epaulet Skimmer, Long-tailed Blue, Spanish Festoon, Brown Argus, Painted Lady.

Other useful links. Ronda bus timetables

Bus services from Malaga

Ronda tourist information

Reflections. This was a memorable and highly successful trip, largely thanks to the unusually warm and sunny November weather. The Sierra de las Nieves is clearly a good area for hiking. The GR243 largely skirts the edge of the park, passing through the main villages for convenience, although these lie outside the park area. Between Monda and Guaro, the GR243 follows dirt and concrete roads that pass between country estates (fincas). The route is similar between Guaro and Tolox, although the quality of the countryside does start to improve. After Yunquera, the path goes fully into the park and one gets the sense of walking in quality wilderness for the first time. In particular, the climb from La Rejertilla over the Puerto de Lifa to Ronda was a highly scenic route, which I enjoyed immensely. The GR243 is generally very well signposted along its route and the few occasions when I lost the path were usually the result of my inattention.

© 2016 The Untravelled World