Walking and Trekking Reports & Comments
The Sierra de Gredos,
described in Trail magazine, June 2004, as ..... "This region to the north-west
of Madrid, is shockingly overlooked by British walkers. And that's a shame,
because it's crammed to the rafters with wildlife and offers some stunning and
extremely accessible mountain terrain."
Although there are high peaks and scrambles for the mountain enthusiast there are also plenty of walking and trekking routes which avoid excessive climbing and which are suitable for walkers of all abilities. The GR10 walking route (from Valencia to Lisbon) passes through Hoyos del Espino.
We have been walking in Gredos for some years now and have produced our own walking routes both by up-dating the information available in Spanish and English books and by devising our own walks. We can now offer a good selection of different walks, circular and linear, ranging from scrambling at over 2000m to strolling along mountain rivers. When we design circular walks we aim to have most of the ascending at the start with a more gentle finish, often along a river. Currently we are working on including GPS details for each of our walks. We've done all of our walks a number of times with people ranging from ten to seventy years old and none of them require more than general fitness and proper equipment. For the more adventurous mountaineers and climbers there is also a lot on offer in Gredos.
Casa Tío Juan provides you with the perfect base for your walking holiday - a holiday that you can plan (with or without our help) to suit yourselves. We can provide detailed route descriptions and map packs as well as suggested itineraries. Accompanied walks can be arranged, as can taxi pick ups and drop offs for linear walks. Although the house is self catering there are several restaurants and bars in the village providing a varied selection of meals at good value. In some cases a take away facility is provided.
To give you an idea of the variety of the many walks which Gredos offers and for which we have produced self-guided map packs click on the following links. Each one provides a brief description with accompanying photos.
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More Challenging - Almanzor - El Techo de Castilla.
These are just tasters of the huge number of possible walks. We are both keen walkers and are willing to help in any way that we can - routes, maps etc. For details of walks in Spanish, with maps, look at Andarines.
A local organization - Turactiv - can provide an English speaking mountain guide for groups. There is also an English speaking guide who is prepared to work with visitors to Casa Tio Juan and will arrange day trips and itineries as required.
On days when you don't want to walk you there are numerous other activities to chose from.
Refer to our bibliography and map list for further information.
If you are planning to camp out overnight there is also a climbing/walking shop on the Plataforma road that sells camping gas. If the shop is closed phone Guillermo who speaks English and he will sell you the gas. Hours - July and August Wed - Sun inc. 09:00 - 20:00 (closed 14:00 - 16:00 for lunch). The rest of the year Friday afternoon, Sat/Sun all day except lunch. E-mail lagalana@hotmail.com or telephone 920 349179.