Day Trip: Hiking in Parque Natural de Peñalara

This past weekend I headed to Parque Natural de Peñalara with a few friends. We were in the mood to hike, take in some fresh air, and escape the city for the day. The park is situated in the Sierra de Guadarrama mountain range north of Madrid, and it took us about an hour, by car, to reach the park.

There are a variety of marked trails in the park, and you can pick up a map at the visitor’s center located at the entrance to the park. We did Trail 3, the easiest one. The ground was covered with snow (we were at 1,900m), so we figured hiking up to Peñalara, the highest peak in the Sierras, was not a fantastic idea for this particular day. Instead we hiked to Laguna de Peñalara. There and back the hike was about 1.5 hours, including a snack break by the lake. At this time of year the lake is really just ice and snow, but very beautiful. 

You can mountaineer or climb in Parque Natural de Peñalara, in addition to hiking, making this park an ideal spot for adventurous outdoor types. Parque Natural de Peñalara was a great day trip, perfect for a little city break. 

Peñalara Nature Park is accessible by public transportation:

By bus: Line 691 from Moncloa, take a bus with ‘Valdesquí’ as the final destination. Get off at Cotos.

By train: Suburban C8B line to Cercedilla. From Cercedilla, take the line to the last stop C9 (Preserves).