Montaña El Cielo (Heaven Mountain)

Dogs Off-leash

Features Birding · Spring · Views · Wildflowers · Wildlife

A steep hike in the Sierras de Tejeda, Almijara and Almara national park with multiple view points overlooking Málaga and the Alboran Sea.

Bring plenty of water. While there might be a spring in the wet seasons it was already completely dry by January. The trail is steep in parts, walking sticks might be recommended for support.

Start and end of the trail is next to the parking lot of Cuevas de Nerja. First part of is the official, and very well marked trail Pico del Cielo going to the mountain top, beginning easy with even surface and occasional concrete parts and accessible by car. After about 5km the terrain changes to rock and dirt going through fauna and trees. The last 200m are very steep with several loose rocks.

Going down the other side of the mountain the trail is unmarked, however with several cairns created to help locate the trail. The first part down is very steep with loose rocks, exposed roots and several parts overgrown. After the steep part it gets fairly flat and continues through a more humid and fauna heavy area. The last part is flat and even surface with part concrete.

Multiple plants and trees, among others a lot of rosemary that gives a nice scent as you pass them. Hispanic goats lives in the area, though shy you might be able to spot them.