Refugio de Juanar - to the top of Cruz de Juanar Mountain
Trail: circular
Difficulty: medium - high
Time: 3 hours
Distance: 8 Km's
View map
The Cruz de Juanar mountain is easily recognizable from the coast. It is part of the Sierra Blanca mountain range that sits behind Marbella. This mountain is the one with a pyramid shape and with a roundish platform as it's peak.
Photo: Sierra Blanca and it's main mountains
Cruz means cross in Spanish. There is a cross on the top of this mountain, hence it's name. There is a legend that says that a fishing boat got lost in a thick fog, they had no idea in which direction to head towards the beach. The fog cleared for a second and one of the men saw the tip of the Juanar mountain. This saved their lives as they managed to head home. In gratitude they planted a big black steel cross up on top of the Juanar mountain and therefore it is know as the "Cross of Juanar". There is a pilgrimage up there once a year and mass is said under the cross.
Photo: Cross on top of the Cruz Juanar mountain
We leave the car on the dirt trail. See how to get there.
We walk up the trail passing through first a pine forest and then many olive trees, the famous olive trees of the Juanar esplanade.
In front of us we will see the Cruz de Juanar mountain as we head towards her.
Photo: trail up the Cruz Juanar mountain east side
We will eventually come to a white building, this is a Centre for Wildlife Conservation.
We will walk past the building and we wont take the fork to the right, this road would also take us up to the top of the mountain but going behind it, we have chosen this route to come back down and make it a little different.
So we continue pass the white house in slight ascent until we see some pines to our right. If we look up the mountain we can clearly see the zigzag path all the way up. This is the trail.
All the way up we can catch our breath and look at the beautiful sights of the sea and the Juanar valley.
Photo: a close up of the path
Once we get to the top go towards the south until you find the cross. We will have Marbella at our feet and a wonderful view of the Sierra Blanca. Following our mountain, towards the east, we see the peaks that custody the Salto del Lobo (the wolves jump), El Lastonar and La Concha.
Photo: View from the top: the Mediterranean Sea, Gibraltar and la Concha mountain to the right
On clear days you will be able to see across the Mediterranean Sea to the African coast of Morocco before you. The rock of Gibraltar stands out towards the south west. If you look east you might be able to see the snowy summit of Sierra Nevada ski resort that is in Granada province.
Photo: the city of Marbella seen from the top
As we have taken the trail up the east face we suggest to descend down the west side, it is a milder descent and a different route.
You have to go to the back of the summit, where you are looking at the edge of the Sierra Blanca mountains. So if you stand with the sea behind you and you look at the cross you have to go forwards (north) and to the left (west).
The first trail down isn't very easy to see, but once you get past the summit's rocky part you will se the dirt trail that takes us down onto the top ledge of the range.
Photo: path down from the Cruz Juanar mountain west side
Once on the ledge there are some big stones and a post in a flat clear area. There are two paths here, one takes us along the range towards the Salto del Lobo and ends on the Concha mountain. We will take the other path, towards the right (north).
Photo: trail down from the mountains to the pine forest
Our trail winds down between oaks and pines. You will begin to see more and more sand on the trail until it opens up into a flat sandy opening. We have finished the big descent and now we can stroll between the ferns under a towering pine forest. We will meet another crossing that will mark the way to Istan, we will take the opposite way, to the right.
We will soon be walking between the olive trees. Take the trail on the right, to the white conservation building. We will soon meet up with the wide dirt trail that will take us back down to the car through the olive trees and then a pine forest.
Updated: december 2006
PHOTO: map of the Refugio de Juanar to the top of Cruz de Juanar Mountain trail - click to enlarge