From Montejaque
the route follows an ancient bridle path towards Ronda,
crossing the Algeciras - Bobadilla railway line (see article 'The
train in Spain leaves the plane' and passing close by the Legion
Camp of Ronda. Join the A381 road up the hill for a short distance
and turn off to the left on the hair-pin bend. At this point there
is a G7 route map notice board. You may detour into the town of
Ronda. Or continue through the fresh, pine clad mountain area known
as Dehesa del Mercadillo. The route then passes through CEDEFO (protected
forest area) toward Arriate which crosses the Llanos de la Cruz.
After Arriate , the route
continues along the Cueva del Becerro footpath up Parchite, where
it picks up the Bobadilla-Algeciras rail track once again and further
on this meets up with the local C-341 road. From this point and
onwards to the Saltillo de Majaco crossroads, the route follows
this main road. From the crossroads you carry on to Serrato on the
old Serrato-Ronda road. This area is particularly pleasant walking
country with its olive groves and farmed crop lands, as well as
beautifully kept meadows and oak groves.
The GR-7 footpath, which begins in Tarifa and ends in Athens, crosses the
Province of Málaga through the Natural Reserves of Alcornocales
and Grazalema
as well as the Hoya de Málaga and el Torcal
de Antequera. The route crosses over from the Cadiz Province
at the Puerto del Correo in the Natural Park of the Sierras de Grazalema,
passing through the accessible part of the Montejaque Mountains.
The route then carries on over the area known as Mojón Alto,
Llanos de Libar and Cortijo de Libar, until it reaches the municipality
of Montejaque. In these parts, the countryside is dramatic with
its dolomite limestone rock formations and the Mediterranean vegetation,
of different types of oak, and pine trees as well as the cork trees
- all of which thrive in the region's hot humid climate.
In Montejaque the route is along the ancient bridle path towards
Ronda, crossing the Algeciras - Bobadilla railway line and passing
close by the Legion Camp of Ronda. After a steep incline, you arrive
in Ronda. From Ronda the route goes through the fresh, pine clad
mountain area known as Dehesa del Mercadillo. It then passes through
CEDEFO (protected forest area - similar to the Forestry Commission
in the UK) and goes on toward Arriate on the old Arriate-Montejaque
track, which crosses the Llanos de la Cruz.
After
Arriate, the route continues along the Cueva del Becerro footpath
up to the train-stopping place at Parchite, where it picks up the
Bobadilla-Algeciras rail track once again and further on this meets
up with the local C-341 road. From this point and onwards to the
Saltillo de Majaco crossroads, the route follows this main road.
From the corssroads you carry on to Serrato on the old Serrato-Ronda
road. This area is particularly pleasant walking country with its
olive groves and farmed crop lands, as well as beautifully kept
meadows and oak groves.
The
next section of the route runs between the district of Serrato and
the municipality of Ardales, linked by the old Serrato to Málaga
footpath and the forest tracks through the Los Romerales Mountains.
This landscape here changes, with dry farming land, olive groves
and in the hills with brushwood and pine groves and some regenerated
oak groves.
After
Ardales the path goes up into the mountains to the reservoir known
as Depósito de la Mesa, in the centre of the Natural Area,
el Desfiladero de los Gaitanes, which you will see as you go round
the reservoir on the north side. This is close by the Bobastro
Castle, where the route then goes down a steep drop known as the
Tajo de la Encantada, which leads to the Embalse (reservoir) de
la Encantada. From here you take the tarmac road (the main Alora
road) which leads to El
Chorro train station, where the route goes into the mountainside
of Haza del Rey, at the foot of the Sierra del Huma. This runs beneath
the sheer rock face up to the small town of Valle de Abdalajís.
This whole area is known for its pine and oak forest, juniper trees
and Mediterranean brushwood but is famous most of all for the amazing
views and the sheer precipices of the gorge.
Carrying
on from the Abdalajís valley and leaving the Natural Park
of El Torcal de Antequera, as well as the area of al Joya to the
East, the route then reaches the town of Antequera. Following the
river Villa until it joins up with the C-331 road (Villanueva de
la Concepción), at the Fabrica de Harina (Flour Mill) in
the direction of El Torcal. This takes you past the source of the
river Villa and then by the 'Migueles' farmhouse. From this point
you leave the C-331 and take a track, which leads to Villanueva
del Cauche. This is where there is a fork in our route, with one
path, heading north towards the province of Cordoba and the other
heading south into the Granada province.
