Gorafe Desert route

This route offers a journey through the Los Coloraos or Gorafe desert, a singular itinerary amidst unique scenery that changes colour at every turn. A fascinating and challenging route, yet at the same time captivating and full of life, hypnotising and captivating. The power of erosion reveals the variety of colours that lie hidden in the bowels of the earth. And if that were not enough, it features one of the most grandiose megalithic complexes in Europe. Mountains, ravines, gullies, deep valleys, cave dwellings, dolmens and even a sky accredited as Starlight succeed one another in a short and surprising route through the heart of Granada Geopark.

You will depart from Guadix (stop 1) and head south on a straight road, with magnificent views of the Sierra Nevada. Within a few kilometres you take a ravine, a path over the dry bed of a stream, with a sandy and more or less compact layer of gravel. In the rainy season, particular care should be taken with mud, puddles and soft sand. You will ascend through pine forests, connecting with other ravines, before following narrow paths through cultivated fields, which will lead you to Gor (stop 2). The hamlet is perched on the shady mountainside and exudes the charm that only villages deeply rooted in their architecture and history possess.

You then head north, riding parallel to the intermittent course of the River Gor, which is already beginning to forge what is commonly known as the cejo, a grandiose ravine that is impossible to miss. You cross the A-92N highway and follow farm tracks, which are in good condition, although there are some potholed stretches. On either side of the cejo, there are several villages, including Cenascuras and Las Viñas, which will soon give way to the unique Gorafe Megalithic Park (stop 3), when the canyon is revealed in all its glory. No fewer than 240 dolmens scattered across 10 necropolises, the largest cluster of prehistoric burial mounds in Spain, set in a landscape steeped in mystery.

Immersed in the canyon of the River Gor, a spectacular road will lead you to Gorafe (stop 4), a village, like almost all villages in Granada Geopark, which is striking due to its numerous picturesque cave dwellings. You ascend a concrete track to the vantage point overlooking the desert and enter Los Coloraos (stop 5), or Gorafe Desert, via winding tracks and ravines, which may be difficult for large and heavily-laden motorbikes. You now ride between escarpments resembling the red walls of impregnable bastions, badlands with deep ravines and gullies in reddish tones, whitish and ochre lines forged over millions of years.

You pass through the village of Bácor and, from there, along stretches of straightforward roads and tracks, you will pass through Freila (stop 6). Finally, after stopping at the CIYA (stop 7), the Interpretation Centre for the Iberian city of Basti, you will reach the town of Baza (stop 8), the end point of this route. After such an arduous trial, it is time to recharge your batteries by sampling the area’s traditional dishes. With a long tradition, deep roots and a certain forcefulness, the Altiplano offers its colorás gachas, spicy and sweet, andrajos (a rabbit stew) and gurullos (a type of pasta) with rabbit, gurupinas with mushrooms and cod, olla de matanza (hot meat pot) or migas serranas (breadcrumbs with cold meats).

Vantage point overlooking the village of Gorafe. It affords magnificent views of the landscape of badlands and gullies that comprise the multicoloured Gorafe desert. Observing them is a pleasant way to discover and enjoy the Granada Geopark.