On my last trip to Madrid, I had the opportunity to do a bit of hiking in the mountains of Madrid. I think we did it because we had nothing else to do, and we did not calculate that it was damn cold weather!, the floor would be slippery and wet air. Having said that, it was amazing, among the pines, the freshness, it was surprising to see that outside of a cement city there is such beauty, or that, or how ignorant it was about Madrid’s surroundings.
We start in the town of Manzanares going up the Pedriza and taking a mini walk. When you search on Google, there are several car parks in La Pedriza, we park in the one shown below. From here the route is shorter to the top.
This Parking in La Pedriza is quite small, surely there are times and times when it fills up. In fact, the photo is from when we went down at 1pm, when we went up there was no one.
The GPS Route, The Heart of La Pedriza
At first everything was forest, it seemed that it was going to be endless pine trees and cold with no views or anything. Being from the Canary Islands, it reminded me of the same experience in the Islands, just much colder.
As we went up, I could see snow / ice here and there, which was great as I was getting tired of just leafless trees. Perhaps I wished for too much.
This terrain was quite slippery, and especially with the sports shoes I was wearing. Ofcourse, not being prepared as usual and undermining the route, I had to walk slowly, afraid of slipping. However, slow and steady, we reached the heart where we sat to relax and enjoy the views while the sun warmed up something.
If you go early in the morning, the sensation of the sun hitting when you go up with so much cold is incomparable. Best of all, after the tour, you come down hungry and it’s time to eat. It is also good to find parking, we went up around 9, it was strange not seeing almost anyone. Anyway, a small, easy route and that if, you go in the cold season, I recommend wearing a good coat and shoes that do not slip.
On the way back, with burned energy and the cold, we went to a nearby restaurant that serves meat, and you prepare it as you like, the tables and the restaurant in general looked like a farm, and hence its name, La Vaquería Restaurant, a real experience to end the day.
