GR141 - Ronda to Benaoján station
Trail photos
Author
Trail stats
- Distance
- 8.99 mi
- Elevation gain
- 896 ft
- Technical difficulty
- Moderate
- Elevation loss
- 1,847 ft
- Max elevation
- 2,433 ft
- TrailRank
-
74
5
- Min elevation
- 1,479 ft
- Trail type
- One Way
- Moving time
- 3 hours 5 minutes
- Time
- 3 hours 45 minutes
- Coordinates
- 2494
- Uploaded
- March 16, 2023
- Recorded
- March 2023
near Ronda, Andalucía (España)
Viewed 778 times, downloaded 19 times
Trail photos
Itinerary description
The official recommendation of the GR141 route says: Day 1: Ronda to Jimera de Libar and Day 2: Jimera de Libar to El Colmenar. But I would recommend splitting Sections 1 and 2 differently. I am a local resident of the Serrania de Ronda who knows the GR141 very well, and I recommend the following itinerary, which splits the route into 3 shorter days instead of 2 very long days, and gives more time to relax and enjoy the different villages.
My suggested itinerary:
Day 1. Ronda to Benaojan Station (and stay overnight at the Molino del Santo hotel).
Day 2: Benaojan to Jimera (coffee/tapas at Bar Allioli at Jimera station) and then onwards from Jimera to Cortes station (and stay overnight at "Finca Rana Verde".)
Day 3: Cortes station to El Colmenar (Gaucin station). From there you can either get the train back to Ronda, or if you park your car at Gaucin station it will be waiting for you at the end of the three days.
Waypoints
Photo
2,434 ft
Start at Ronda railway station
Cross the road and walk down until you reach Calle Espinel - a pedestrian street with many cafes and shops. Walk all the way down Calle Espinel until you reach the bull ring.
Photo
2,388 ft
Plaza de Maria Auxiliadora
Walk to the far end of the square to find the start of the zig-zag path downhill.
Photo
2,175 ft
GO LEFT HERE and stay on marked GR 141 (Turn right to viewing spot )
At this junction I recommend that you stay on the marked red/white GR141 path which goes to the left. I went right - you go downhill to a great viewing point, and then I went through the archway, downhill on a steep path to re-join the GR141 at a car park area. I DO NOT recommend this short cut as it is very steep and can be slippery. So if you go down to the viewing spot, retrace your steps back uphill to the junction again.
Photo
1,765 ft
At the roundabout, take the middle street - Calle Juan de Rosa - to the right of Unicaja bank
Comments (10)
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Fantastic route! thank you so much for this, great waypoints and helpful notes 😎👍
Hi Karen! Thank you; I'm glad you enjoyed the route. I don't know if our paths have crossed on a hike sometime...but I spot some of my fellow hikers in your photos - Jacqui Scott, David Swainston, and was that Yasmin?
Hi Lindsey, yes I don't think our paths have crossed yet but I have walked before with the Gaucin group and regularly with Jacqui, David and Yasmin. I usually walk with the Don't Look Down group based in Soto. Look forward to meeting you at some point, we had a blast today and a lovely lunch at El Molino
Hi, I’m part of a hiking group and we are headed to Ronda in early May. Yay! This walk looks fabulous! I’m assuming that we can take trains from Ronda and follow your suggested itinerary for the GR141. Do you have any recommendations for us to explore the area on foot and see some of the other towns? We are hiking for four day and will need to use public transportation for hikes further afield. I’ve also downloaded your Gaucin series. TIA, Laura
Hi Laura! You will absolutely love the hiking around Ronda and Gaucin. In order to answer your questions, I need to know how many of you are in your hiking group? Because that will determine modes of transport and accommodation options. Let me know, then I'll get back to you. Regards, Lindsey
Hi Lindsey,
Thank you so very much for getting back to me and for any assistance!
We are a group of 14 who get together each year for a hiking adventure. We are all booked in for accommodation in Ronda. I’m assisting in planning the hikes. So far I thought 1. take the late morning train to Benaojan and hike back to Ronda, 2. Hike to Setenil and take the 3:45 train to return.
It seems that train and bus travel is limited so we would be fine with arranging a mini coach so that we can best explore the area. Grazalema to Zahara looks like a good option. Any suggestions for good hikes or how best to organise would be greatly appreciated! I’m on Komoot and All Trails as well but first hand knowledge is always best.
Many thanks and all best,
Laura
Hi Laura. OK. 1. Trains. 14 of you is a reasonably big group and for any train trips I would recommend booking your tickets online a couple of days before on the www.renfe.com website. Or at least check the fare and make sure everyone has the correct change, some of the journeys are short and it's tricky for the conductor to collect the fares from a group (and we want to keep the line going so the more people who pay, the better). On my train based hikes I would generally prefer to travel outward by train and return on foot, because then you are not committed to getting to the station by a particular time. But be aware that Ronda is higher than many of the surrounding villages so if you do that, you will always be finishing with a slog uphill. Doing it the other way round, there are early evening trains from many villages, which means you could start walking from Ronda (downhill!) and still have plenty of time to return on the train; maybe having a beer/snack whilst waiting for the train at the other end.
2. Coaches. Given that you only have four days hiking I think there's enough to do based around the train routes, as booking coaches adds a further level of organisation and hassle...it's doable but can be expensive...we use a firm local to Gaucin but I suggest you look for a Ronda based coach company if you need to do this.
3. Routes. You say you have four days of hiking. I would definitely recommend these three which use the trains, you will love the scenery. 1.RONDA to BENAOJAN. As discussed; you could start with this wiki trail at the top of the page - Ronda to Benaojan station, which is not difficult and so a good warmup. I have an alternative Wikiloc trail for the same route which is identical until the end of the valley but then the alternative goes flat along the river via the Cueva del Gato (a spectacular cave) whereas this original one goes up and over to the top main village of Benaojan and down to the station. Alternative is called: "Ronda to Benaojan via Cueva del Gato", ID 150632818.
2. CORTES STATION TO GAUCIN STATION VIA THE GERMAN BRIDGE. From Ronda this would involve a morning train from Ronda to Cortes de la Frontera, you then walk from Cortes to Gaucin station, and then return on the train from Gaucin to Ronda. It's do-able with the train times. Have a look at my wiki track "Estacion Cortes to El Colmenar (Estacion Gaucin)" Wiki ID 114386425. The German bridge is amazing and the scenery down the Guadiaro valley is a wonder to behold. This is a must - do hike for you. Look at the photos on my track!
3. Finally, I suggest "Encinas Borrachas - Acueducto Romano - Ronda - Tajo Abanico circular" wikiloc ID 133846259. I started at Encinas Borrachas (a mountain pass) but you could do the same route starting in Ronda. It goes through the "Tajo Abanico" which is a fantastic mountain gorge and past a huge cave system.
Finally, some of our most favourite hikes are in the Cortes/Villaluenga/Grazalema area; the ""Llano de Libar" and "Llano del Republicano" (hidden valleys) have to be seen to be believed. But they need transport to and from Ronda - so one suggestion is that you add in your planned Ronda to Setenil for the fourth hike in addition to my three suggestions above, and then come back and base yourselves in Grazalema on another occasion. Why don't you email me on: gaucindaywalks@gmail.com if you have any questions or comments and I'll do my best to help. Whatever you decide to do, it's a fabulous area for hiking - and Ronda is a great town to explore too, if people get sore feet or just want a day off hiking! You'll have a great time. Kind regards, Lindsey
Wow — thank you Lindsey! This is fabulous. I will email you with any further questions when I have the chance to go through everything. Very much appreciated!
Laura