Caminito Del Rey.. Awesome! A gorge trek not to be missed!

Caminito del Rey is an itinerary that will let you walk across the heart of Desfiladero de los Gaitanes (Gaitanes Ravine) through the newly installed pathways attached to a rock one hundred meters above the ground. Discovering remote landscapes and experiencing vertiginous feelings that only experienced climbers could feel until now is the adrenaline rush that you would otherwisw never experience!

This almost 8-kilometre path near Malaga (Andalusia) was once considered one of the most dangerous in the world. Today the entire route has been carefully restored, but although it’s now much safer, one thing hasn’t changed – the unique experience of strolling along walkways hanging over a sheer cliff face. The views are unforgettable and the circling birdlife above is a breathtaking site.

The Caminito del Rey route is spectacular from beginning to end, running through cliffs, canyons, and a large valley. It crosses the landscapes of Desfiladero de los Gaitanes, a gorge carved out by the river Guadalhorce, with walls 700 metres high. The area is also inhabited by a wide variety of plant and animal species; with a little luck, you can see highland birds like Egyptian vultures, griffon vultures, or golden eagles, and mammals such as wild boar and Iberian ibex. Almost 100 metres above the bottom of the ravine where the river Guadalhorce flows, the Caminito de Rey was originally a small service path that followed along the right bank of the Desfiladero de los Gaitanes. It connected the small El Gaitanejo dam with the El Chorro hydro-electric plant.

This path, built at the beginning of the 20th century for a clearly functional purpose, soon became part of everyday life for the inhabitants of Chorro. Opened in 1921 by King Alfonso XIII after the construction of the El Chorro dam, later named the Conde de Guadalhorce dam, it was used by “children going to school, women to the shop and men to the bar” sometimes on foot, on horseback and sometimes by bicycle!

The total length of the Caminito del Rey is 7.7 km, of which 4.8 are access paths and 2.9 are footbridges. With reference to the footbridges (the most famous part), the distance from the start to the end is 2.9 km including 1.5 km of actual footbridges and 1.4km of forest track or path.

This humble Caminito del Rey runs impossibly along the Desfiladero de los Gaitanes, an impressive canyon opened by the Guadalhorce river in the limestone and dolomite, with a length of three kilometres, reaching heights of up to 300 metres and a width of less than 10 metres. Located in the centre of the province of Malaga, between the towns of Álora, Antequera and Ardales, where it is one of the most spectacular landscapes in the Malaga mountains. Tickets 10€ at caminitodelreymalaga.com