Canillas de Aceituno - El Saltillo - Mirador de los Pozuelos, (Málaga)

09 11 2020

Canillas de Aceituno - El Saltillo - Mirador de los Pozuelos, (Málaga)

This walk is in the Parque Natural Sierra de Tejeda, Almijara and Alhama.
When you arrive into the centre of Canillas you will find an underground car park on your right (which I believe is free). If you pass the car park on Avenida Andalucía there is parking on your left, and past La Maroma restaurant there is some parking on the road to the left of the restaurant.

Because this walk is already being named Caminito del Rey V2.0, it is becoming very popular and parking might be a bit of a problem especially at weekends.

To access the walk (there are very few indications or markers of where to start), you pass La Maroma restaurant and take the first turning on your left. At the end next to some bins, take the steps that head out of the village. There is one arrow where you have to turn sharp left and then follow the road where eventually you will come to a dirt track which follows the old acequia water canal. Once on this trail you can’t really get lost.

At around 3km La Maroma Mountain appears in front of you.

At around 4km you will find a sign post to El Saltillo suspension bridge. This bridge spans the Rio Almanchares. There is quite a descent down to the bridge with large steps zig zagging for 200m.

Once across the bridge, you can head back the way you came or you can add an extra extension from the bridge to the Mirador de Los Pozuelos which is not an easy route to take. It is a good climb with many challenges and chains to grab onto. Towards the end of the walk, I took a small short cut to get to the Mirador crossing over a small hill. From the Mirador you can see the majestic La Maroma Mountain. I would rate this walk Medium because of the initial climb out of the village and the descent to El Saltillo, and then the climb back up again to the main track.

Adding the Mirador extension I would rate this walk medium to hard.

This walk is not suitable for young kids and those who suffer from Vertigo. There are some narrow paths with steep drops.

Only last week (November 2020) a woman fell to her death on this route.

There are some lovely views all around on this walk. On the return journey you can see Lake Viñuela in the distance with Canillas de Aceituno in the foreground.

This route is part of the Gran Senda GR249 Canillas de Aceituno to Sedella.

How to get there: Head towards Malaga taking the ring road.
At Velez Malaga, turn left onto the A356.

The next turning you take will be the A705 and the last turnoff is the MA4106 which goes into Canillas.