Gran Senda de Malaga

Look out for the Gran Senda de Malaga logo
Look out for the Gran Senda de Malaga logo

GRAN SENDA DE MALAGA

The Gran Senda de Malaga (Great Malaga path) is a long distance footpath that encircles the entire province of Malaga. It has been given the footpath number GR-249 and is divided into 35 stages averaging 18km nominally starting at Malaga City and more or less following the provincial boundary in an anti-clockwise direction. Each stage starts and finishes in a town or village.

Stages one to four follow the coast eastwards from Malaga city to Nerja. Stages five to fifteen head north west to Cuevas Bajas. Stages sixteen to twenty six south west to Benalauría. Stages twenty seven to twenty nine south to Estepona. Stage thirty is along the coast to Marbella. Stages thirty one to thirty five follow an inland route back to Malaga city. There is no reason why one could not start of finish at any point. Since the whole route is 656 km it is not likely that anybody will complete the circuit but walk selected stations.

 

 

The 35 Stages

(Deatailed maps, potos, videos, route descriptionis and waypoint can be found on the Gran Senda Malaga website)


1 Málaga - Rincón de la Victoria 15.6km
2 Rincón de la Victoria - Vélez Málaga 24.4km
3 Vélez Málaga - Algarrobo 19.1km
4 Algarrobo - Torrox - Nerja 10.5km
5 Nerja - Frigiliana 14.7km
6 Frigiliana - Cómpeta 26.4km
7 Cómpeta - Canillas de Aceituno 25.1km
8 Canillas de Aceituno - Periana 17.0km
9 Periana - Alfarnatejo (Pulgarín Alto) 13.5km
10 Alfarnatejo (Pulgarín Alto) - Alfarnate 18.1km
11 Alfarnate - Villanueva del Rosario 15.4km
12 Villanueva del Rosario - Archidona 18.5km
13 Archidona - Villanueva de Tapia 17.1km
14 Villanueva de Tapia - Villanueva de Algaidas 16.7km
15 Villanueva de Algaidas - Cuevas Bajas 10.1km
16 Cuevas Bajas - Alameda 21.2 km
17 Alameda - Fuente de Piedra 18.6km
18 Fuente de Piedra - Campillos 15.7km
19 Campillos - Campillos (Embalses del Guadalhorce) 23.0km
20 Campillos (Embalses del Guadalhorce) - Álora (Estación de El Chorro) 22.0km
21 Álora (Estación de El Chorro) - Ardales 16.5km
22 Ardales - El Burgo 22.8km
23 El Burgo - Ronda 24.2km
24 Ronda - Estación de Benaoján 12.8km
25 Estación de Benaoján - Jimera de Líbar 9.7km
26 Jimera de Líbar - Benalauría 15.3km
27 Benalauría - Genalguacil 11.6km
28 Genalguacil - Casares 20.5km
29 Casares - Estepona 32.8km
30 Estepona - Marbella 27.1km
31 Marbella - Ojén 17.0km
32 Ojén - Mijas 39.8km
33 Mijas - Benalmádena 18.0km
34 Benalmádena - Alhaurín de la Torre 12.3km
35 Alhaurín de la Torre - Málaga 12.9km

The provincial government extensively promote the path and also organize a number of Sunday group walks in the spring and autumn season. If you are interested in joining a group look out for info on the paths' twitter or facebooks accounts.

Video

A high quality contemporary style, slightly cheesy, video promotes the path. 

 

 

certificate

The Diputacion de Malaga (Malaga Provincial Council) has initiated a Credencial de Gran Senderista scheme similar to the Pilgrim Passports of the Camino de Santiago. You need to register first at their office or online and obtain a registration number and 'passport'. The idea is to obtain stamps from specified establishments along the route. When you finish you can obtain a certificate indicating how many stages you have completed.

Official Material

The website for the Gran Senda Malaga in English is www.gransendademalaga.es/en/
Twitter: @gransendamalaga
Facebook: GranSendaMalaga
A pdf guide to the walk in English can be downloaded here

Articles

Steve Barham has written an interesting article about walking the Gran Senda de Malaga. He is only the second person know to have walked the entire route. "It took me a year to complete my Gran Senda de Malaga. Due to work commitments, week-long breaks were mostly all I could manage, so I broke up the route into five sections and had a week in February, May, September and October 2017 and 10 days in the following February. With days spent getting to and from the walk to Malaga and the odd day off, the entire route took me 34 days."  Read Steve' article here.

 

Destinations

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