Marbella Nature Trails

Seeing the gleaming white luxury apartment complexes, the fine villas and townhouses lining Marbella’s Golden Mile one could be forgiven for assuming that this is not a landscape made for nature lovers. However, Marbella has a surprising number of excellent nature trails to offer, as many semi-resident holiday homeowners discover, when they visit during off peak season and explore nature instead of beach life.
 
Marbella itself, nearby Ojan and Istan provide a great introduction into the gentle sport of walking, something all the family can enjoy. For more challenging hikes there are the Sierra Blanca, Sierra de las Nieves and Sierra Canucha.

The Marbella to Los Monjes Trail

Going for local walks is a great way to explore one’s new Spanish hometown but it’s also a fantastic way to make new friends and get involved. A short local trail starting in the north of Marbella is the walk to the ruins of Los Monjes. It’s a lineal trail of medium difficulty that takes around 3 hours to complete. Covering a distance of just 4.5 km it’s a good example of what temporary residents can look forward to whenever they visit their Marbella holiday homes.

This lovely walk leads up the Calaña stream to the ruins of Los Monjes and starts near the Xarblanca urbanization. If your apartment or townhouse is located in the centre of town, head to the Marbella Bus Terminal that sits at the exit called Avenida del Trapiche, just off where route E-15 meets A-7.
 
The spot is occupied by a roundabout next to the bus terminal and there’s also a petrol station. Head towards the mountains until you reach another roundabout; take the left – a ¾ turn around the roundabout – and follow the road straight on, past all houses, until you reach a power plant sitting next to a small urbanization.
 
Park the car in a safe spot and start walking down the slope, until the road is cut off by a stream, the Arroyo Calaña or Arroyo de Guadalpin as it is called from this point onwards.

The trail is a little hard to find at this juncture, leading upwards and away from the stream, which you’ll need to cross a few times. Thankfully, for most parts of the year the stream carries little water, so crossing is not too difficult. Follow the blue paint marks displayed on rocks lining the path, but use the stream as your main point of reference. When you finally reach a fragrant pine forest, follow the stream up the valley.

Eventually, the trail crosses parts of the stream that have all but dried up, or areas where the stream flows underground. This is a sign you are approaching Los Monjes (“the Monks”) and the ruins of an old church. Higher up the trail suddenly starts turning back on itself and within moments, you will see the ruins rise up in front of you.

The trail continues up the hill, past the ruins, and returns south following the riverbed at a high altitude. From here onwards the track narrows and becomes more challenging, particularly for younger children, but there are chains installed on either side to hold on to while climbing upwards and crossing through an area of shrub land.

Thankfully, this is the last challenge, for soon one catches a first glimpse of sparkling blue sea and the bright gleam of Marbella’s urban glamour. It’s a marvellous beauty spot that affords wonderful views over the coast and river below.

Following the trail one finally reaches the summit some 350 above sea level. With the beautiful coastline and the town of Marbella enfolding below to the east and Puerto Banus to the west, this is a spectacular sight. To the north one can just make out the peaks of Cruaz de Juanar Mountain and its smaller companion hill, La Laja. On a clear day these breath-taking views stretch as far as Gibraltar.

The return journey to the car follows the trail back down the hill and along the river embankment.

If after reading this you are tempted to view holiday homes at the Costa del Sol or would like to purchase a new home in Marbella that boasts mountain views and is located within walking distance of Puerto Banus Marina, brand new 3-bedroom, 3-bathroom townhouses start at asking prices of ca. EUR 235,000.