Two days hiking in the Sierra de Guadarrama from Segovia: a stop-by-stop itinerary
Scots pine forest and granite slabs on the Segovian side of the Sierra de Guadarrama
A two-day mountain plan on the Segovian side of the range, with about 11 km of forest walking on day one, a 12 km ridge day at 2,000 metres on day two, and both nights within 12 km of the old town.
The geography nobody explains before you arrive
Segovia sits at just over 1,000 metres with the Sierra de Guadarrama filling the southern horizon, and the ground rises fast: La Granja de San Ildefonso is at 1,190 metres, 11 km from the aqueduct on the CL-601, and the Puerto de Navacerrada tops out at 1,858 metres another 12 km on. That road is the spine of everything below. The Segovian flank is wetter and greener than the Madrid side, covered in the Valsain pinewoods, one of the oldest continuously managed forests in Europe, with granite tors above the treeline and the young Eresma running down the middle.
Most of the high ground is inside the Sierra de Guadarrama national park, which brings real rules: no camping, no drones, dogs on a lead, fires banned outright in summer, and vehicle access controls on the busiest days at the main passes. Parking at Navacerrada and at the recreation area of Boca del Asno fills early on summer weekends and charges apply in season. Verify access arrangements and any capacity limits with the park authority before you drive up, because they are reviewed periodically and a wasted hour at a full barrier ruins a morning.
Day 1, 09:00: warm up in the royal gardens
Drive or take the frequent bus from Segovia to La Granja, 25 minutes either way, and start with an hour in the palace gardens rather than the palace itself. The formal axes run for well over a kilometre under enormous horse chestnuts and limes, the ground is largely level gravel, and at 1,190 metres the air is five degrees cooler than the city. The monumental fountains only run on scheduled display days, mostly in the warmer half of the year and on a small number of feast days; check the dates with the Patrimonio Nacional site rather than turning up hopefully.
Leave the gardens by 10:30 and drive 3 km up the CL-601 to Valsain, then a little further to the Boca del Asno recreation area at around 1,190 metres, where the Eresma runs over granite slabs under the pines. This is the busiest picnic spot in the valley and the car park is small, so on a July or August Sunday arrive before 10:00 or park in Valsain and walk in. The walking starts here, and the first route is the easy one, deliberately, because day two is not.
Day 1, 11:00: the Eresma and the mill path
The riverside path linking Boca del Asno with Valsain and the meadows at Navalhorno follows the old mill leats through mature Scots pine, and it is around 4 km each way on almost flat ground, signed and impossible to lose. It takes two hours at a photographing pace, and you can shorten it to a loop of 5 km using the forest track on the far bank. Take a swim only where locals do; the Eresma is snowmelt cold well into June and the pools are shallower than they look from above.
Eat late and locally. Valsain and La Granja both have restaurants doing judiones de La Granja, the fat white beans stewed with chorizo and ear, at around €12 to €16 a plate, and a three-course menu of the day for €15 to €20 on weekdays. This is a proper mountain lunch and you have earned it. If you would rather picnic, buy in Segovia before you drive up, because the shops in Valsain are tiny and close for a long midday break in the pattern of every village in the province.
Day 1, 16:00: the waterfall climb, if your legs agree
The afternoon option is the climb to the Chorro Grande waterfall, signed from the CL-601 above Valsain, which gains roughly 400 metres over about 4 km to a cascade on a tributary of the Eresma at around 1,700 metres. Allow three hours out and back with photographs, and carry a litre of water each even in autumn. The falls are strongest from March to early June with snowmelt and can be reduced to a trickle by late August, so if you are here in high summer, keep the walk for the forest and the granite rather than the water.
Sleep in La Granja or Valsain. Small hotels and guesthouses in the grid of streets around the palace run roughly €85 to €135 for a double outside August, with the eighteenth-century state-run parador in the old Casa de los Infantes opposite the palace at the top of the range. If you would rather have the choice of 40 restaurants, sleep in Segovia and accept the 25-minute drive each way; count on €80 to €140 inside the walls. For a two-day hiking trip I would stay up the hill both nights and eat beans.
Day 2, 08:30: the ridge day from Navacerrada
Drive the 12 km up from La Granja to the Puerto de Navacerrada, a series of switchbacks that takes 20 minutes and is spectacular at sunrise. Park early. The classic Segovian-side ridge walk from the pass heads west along the crest towards the Collado Ventoso and the granite domes of Siete Picos, which reach 2,138 metres, with pine forest below on the left and the whole plateau visible to the north on a clear day. Reckon on 12 km round trip, 500 metres of ascent and five hours moving, on rough granite that punishes soft footwear.
The alternative for a shorter day is to drop from the pass into the Fuenfria valley and pick up the old paved Roman-era road, which is gentler, shaded and about 9 km round. Whichever you choose, be off the ridge by mid-afternoon in summer: convective storms build over the Guadarrama from around 14:00 in July and August with genuine lightning risk on exposed granite. Check the AEMET mountain forecast the evening before, and be aware that snow can lie above 1,800 metres from November into May, turning a walk into a winter route.
Day 2 afternoon: descend, eat, and one last viewpoint
Come down to Valsain by 16:00 and drive the CL-601 back towards Segovia, but stop at the pass viewpoints where the road leaves the treeline; the sight of the city floating on its plateau 800 metres below, aqueduct and cathedral picked out in the low sun, is the payoff for two days of looking at your boots. If you have an hour to spare, detour 10 km southwest to the Riofrio palace and its enclosed deer park, where fallow deer graze the oaks and the drive-in road is flat and unhurried.
Dinner back in Segovia should be the roast, not the beans: suckling pig at €28 to €35 in one of the old houses near the aqueduct, booked that morning. Sleep in the Casco Antiguo at €80 to €140 for a double, or, if you have an early drive to Madrid, in one of the modern hotels along Paseo Ezequiel Gonzalez or towards the SG-20 at €60 to €90 with a garage. For two days of hiking I would spend the second night in town, purely so that dinner is 90 seconds from the room.
Kit, transport and honest limits
You need boots with an edge for granite, a windproof layer even in August because the pass is routinely 10 degrees colder and much windier than the city, two litres of water per person on day two, and sun cover at altitude. Mobile coverage on the ridge is patchy. There is no mountain rescue shortcut: the emergency number is 112 and a callout from Siete Picos is a long one, so leave your route with someone. Nobody should attempt the ridge in winter conditions without crampons, an axe and the experience to use them.
Without a car, day one is entirely doable: buses run from Segovia to La Granja through the day, and Valsain is a 3 km walk or a short hop further. Day two is not, because scheduled services up to the Puerto de Navacerrada from the Segovian side are sparse and seasonal. Verify any mountain bus timetable directly with the operator before you rely on it. The workable no-car version is two forest days in the Valsain valley, which is a fine trip and about 300 metres of ascent gentler.
Before you book
The questions people ask about Segovia, answered with this month’s numbers.
La Granja de San Ildefonso is 11 km, about 20 minutes by road, and the Puerto de Navacerrada is roughly 23 km, around 40 minutes. Buses cover the La Granja leg through the day; the pass itself is far harder to reach without a car, especially outside the summer season.
Above 1,800 metres, expect snow from November into May in an average year, with cornices on the Siete Picos crest into spring. Forest walks around Valsain and Boca del Asno at roughly 1,200 metres are usually clear but can ice after a cold snap. Check the AEMET mountain bulletin the night before.
General walking needs no permit, but vehicle access and parking at the busiest access points can be limited or charged on peak days, and camping is prohibited. Rules are reviewed from time to time, so confirm current access arrangements with the Sierra de Guadarrama national park authority before you drive up.
