El Torcal
"Mother Nature's Magical Park"
Cortijo Valverde Country Hotel is only a short drive from El Torcal National Park. 12 KM from ancient city of Antequera, El Torcal is a fantastic mix of rock formation popular with Walkers, budding photographers, Birdwatchers, and nature lovers. Formed during the Jurassic period, the 17 square km park sits high up at 1300 meters above see level. Declared a National Park in 1978, El Torcal is one of the most wondrous natural sites in Andalucia.
El Torcal’s stone “Sculptures” were carved out by water and wind erosion of the Limestone over the last one million years. Stone formations look as if they have been put together carefully and deliberately, and appear to come to life at night! This is a magical park, which amaze and delight all visitors.
Three well defined walks are available at El Torcal, all starting at the Visitors Centre.
• Green Route – Is by far the shortest and is more suitable for the less energetic, but yet curious visitors and those with young children. The 1.5 km walk is in fact a sub-set of the Yellow route and should take around 40 minutes to complete.
• Yellow Route – Is for the more hardy and its 2.5 km track takes you via “Las Ventanillas” (the windows). Las Ventanillas is at the height of 1,200m giving amazing panoramic views of Malaga valley, and en exceptional opportunity to take photos. This walk could take up to 1.5 hours to complete.
• Red Route - 4.5 km in length and taking over 3.5 hours to complete, this is purely for the dedicated and the fit walkers. This track will take you to the summit of El Torcal at 1,330 meters and will enable you to see the eagle-eye view of El Torcal Park.
Those wishing to take any of these walks should note they need suitable walking shoes, plenty of water and the Red Route is not suitable for young children.
