Walk from El Cerezal to Juanar in Ojen
Trail: lineal
Difficulty: medium
Time: 3 hours
Distance: 4 Km's
View map
We have to go on the road A-355 from Marbella to Ojen.
From Marbella we go on the bypass A-7 or E-15 and we turn off towards Ojen at the La Cañada shopping centre exit. This exit is marked as Ojen. Once on the A-355 road we start to go up into the hills away from the coast. On our left we begin to see how we are going round our Sierra Blanca mountain range.
A bit further up We will take the turn off on the right towards Ojen, so we will taken the road that passes through the town's centre.
PHOTO: a view of the white town of Ojen and the route toward El Cerezal
PHOTO: signs that mark the way towards El Cerezal inside Ojen
There aren't any signs toward El Cerezal from the main road that goes through the town, but we have to take a narrow very steep road to the left just before we exit the town. As a reference we can say there is a sign to "La Hosteria de Don José". When you see the "La Hosteria de Don José" in front of you, to your right you will see a sign that indicates the way to el Cerezal, so you have to continue up the road called F. Garcia Lorca.
We continue up the road until it turns into a white dirt track. We continue up this trail until it ends at a green gate where we can leave the car.
PHOTO: gate that marks the entrance to El Cerezal where we leave the car
We go round the gate, now on foot. The path goes up a small hill that takes us to the old house of El Cerezal, now abandoned, it is surrounded by many trees and has picnic tables and benches.
PHOTO: a view of the abandoned building of El Cerezal between the trees
We have to continue right up to the abandoned building and then we turn left, towards the wall under the road. There is an iron gate. We have to go through the gate and walk through the quite wide and dark tunnel, about 100 metres long, that will take us to the other side of the road A-355.
PHOTO: gate before the tunnel under the road
PHOTO: at the other side of the tunnel we start going up towards Juanar
Here we begin the trail up to the Juanar area. At first the path runs next to a dry stream bed.
The trails begins to climb quite steeply at times and we enter a pine forest, the trail turns very sandy. We begin to have impressive views of the mountains around us.
We walk through the pines as we leave the noisy road behind, we come to a sandy area where we will find a trail post. Here we have to continue up the sandy trail that climbs even higher.
PHOTO: view of the coast from the trail
The path is interesting and easy, although it climbs constantly. In some parts if we look back down we can see the coast and the Mediterranean Sea. If we look up and towards the right we will begin to see the Cerro Nicolas Mountain with it's magnificent 1022 meters, it will guide us towards the end of the trail.
PHOTO: path between the pines
The climb finishes when we come to a trail post, here our trail joins up with the wide trail that goes up to the Juanar olive trees. From here if we go towards the right we will go down towards the Refugio de Juanar Hotel, if we go up towards our left we would go in direction Istan, La Concha mountain, Juanar viewpoint (Mirador) and towards the Juanar mountain.
PHOTO: sign post on the Juanar trail that indicates the way towards el Cerezal
We will return to the car going back down the same way we came up, enjoying a wonderful walk under the pine trees and with great views of Sierra Blanca.
You can also try this trail the other way, driving up to the Juanar area (see how to get here) and walking down to El Cerezal to then climb back up to the car.
Updated: march 2007
PHOTO: map of el Cerezal to Juanar trail - click to enlarge