Alora Nature

Alora Natural Enviroment
Alora's municipality covers a large area. To the north is the, Arco Calizo Central, the Antequerana Mountain range, that has spectacular views of the Sierra de Huma mountains, ALT 1,191 metres, and the Desfiladero de los Gaitanes, an area whose administration is shared by Ardales. To the west of Alora is the Sierra de Aguas, ALT 949 metres, that leads towards the Serranía de Ronda mountain range, with its pine forests that stretch from the Guadalhorce river to the road that links Álora with Carratraca, see Map. On the eastern side of the Guadalhorce, the landscape smooths out, into small hills cultivated in cereal, and some olive and old oak plantations. This region cuts a natural corridor that crosses the province from Periana to Alora, and is separated by the Antequerana Mountain range from the Mountains of Malaga.

Garganta del Chorro
Garganta del Chorro is one of Andalucia's geographical wonders, an immense chasm cut by the river through a limestone mountain. Fifty kilometres north-west of Málaga is the Rio Guadalhorce which carves its way through the Garganta del Chorro, El Chorro Gorge, up to 400 m deep and in some places only 10 m wide. El Chorro Gorge is about 4 km long and is traversed by the main railway route from Málaga, with 12 train tunnels and six bridges, but also by a footpath, the Camino del Rey, which for long stretches becomes af perilously decaying concrete catwalk clinging to the side of the gorge up to 100 m above the river.

Garganta is popular among climbers because here you find many perfect vertical walls. The name Garganta means "Throat", and in it self the nature is very impressive. It is a place where high narrow mountains make it difficult for the passage of water. Camino del Rey is named so because Alfonso XIII reputedly walked it in 1921, when he opened the dams and reservoirs above the gorge wich supply much of Málaga province's water. The camino has been in a state of alarming disrepair for years and has been officially closed since 1992 but there's nothing to stop adventurous folk with a head for heights from using parts of it. When you arrive by car you must pass the water by way of a dam, shortly before you reach the end of the lake. Turn left right after the dam and park you car. The rest of the way is on foot, following the right side of the lake.

Torcal de Antequera
This national park lies in high mountains in a distance of about 1 hour driving north of Malaga. The rocks are unusual and heavily eroded. When you walk about it is as if you see faces in the rocks. El Torcal Park Nature Reserve, 13 km south of Antequera and 32 km north of Málaga, covers 17 km2 of beautiful and impressive limestone landscape. The whole area was below sea level until one hundred million years ago, when violent movements of the Earth's crust forced it 1,300 metres upward into the hills and mountains. The limestone retained its horizontal formation, and, over the years, the weather has chiselled it into amazing shapes.

Look out for La Copa (The Wineglass), El Lagarto (The Lizard) and La Loba (The She-wolf) amongst the natural rock sculptures. Griffin vultures sometimes appear overhead, their huge wingspans creating a spectacular sight as they glide noiselessly through the sky. Three walking routes have been marked out for visitors, with different coloured arrows on wooden sticks.

Carratraca
Spa Baths which are Roman in their splendour. A spring of sulphurous water flows from the mountainside at a rate of 700 litres per minute. Two magnificent oval baths are surrounded by columns and a connecting architrave, their enclosing walls set with brilliant blue and yellow tiles. The curative properties of the sulphuric springs in Carratraca captured the attention of the Romans, who left copper and silver coins with effigies of Tiberio, Claudio, and Caesar in the site known as La Glorieta, and a late-Roman necropolis in Los Maderos, near the Cañas brook.

Ardales National Park
An area of stunning beauty of forests and mountains. Within the Park is a remote area on top of one of the many mountains is a place called Bobastro. Here you can see the ruins of a fort built in the year 900 by Umar Ibn Hafsun.Who is said to have set up a kingdom in defianceof the Caliph of Cordoba. His conversion to Christianity resulted in an amazing Church been built, hewn from a single huge boulder.