Jarapalos

This hike takes you to Alhuarin de la Torre, a town just west of Malaga, close to the airport. Jarapalos is a nature park in the Mijas mountain range – La Sierra de Mijas. This is a nice walk if you want to stay close to the city and avoid a long drive.

To get there, follow signs to Alhuarin de la Torre then continue to Club de Tiro Jarapalo – a local shooting range. Park under the white archway ‘tiro de pichón’ (pidgeon shooting). The area clearly has a hunting history.

I’m sure there are many different trails to explore here if you do your research. The route that we took starts on a wide, gritted path that heads in to the forest. Making your way up, the overgrowth gets dense as you walk through tall pine trees. For the first hour, the route is rather dark as you stay under the tree tops.

Soon after the clearing pictured below, the path narrows and becomes quite steep. Continue up and you eventually emerge out from the trees, the sunny mountain tops coming in to view.

As you climb, the trees start to thin, giving you beautiful views down to the valley below. From here you can see Alhuarin de la Torre and Malaga in the distance.

The last part of the climb gets nearer the peak of the mountain. We stopped when we could see views of the sea. There is a lovely peace and tranquillity up here as you listen to the wind and enjoy the satisfaction of having climbed all the way to the top.