Madrid · Sierra de Guadarrama Mountain Day

A 166 km loop from Navacerrada Pass

Open this ride in the planner →

Why this ride

High plateau air and historic stops north of the city. 166 km round from Cercedilla - plan on about 3 h 12 of riding. It goes by way of Segovia old town, La Granja palace and Rascafría. Navacerrada Pass is the high point. It tops out at about 1,350 m. The passes are the reason to go.

Roadbook

1. Navacerrada Pass pass

   At 1,858 metres, Puerto de Navacerrada is the pass Madrid runs to when it wants to cool off. It is the crossing between the Madrid and Segovia sides of the Sierra de Guadarrama, and the road, the M-601 on the south side, climbs from Cercedilla and Navacerrada village in a series of tight bends through pine forest before bursting out onto the bare, rocky ridge. At the top there is a small ski area, a few ventas and cafés, a car park that is too small on every sunny weekend, and a view of the high peaks and, in winter, a rather charming scrum of skiers and bikers sharing the same tarmac.

   The history here is stark. In the Civil War the pass was on the front line in the summer of 1936, when Republican forces held the Madrid side and Nationalist forces tried to push through. Remains of trenches and bunkers are still scattered through the pines. Long before that, the pass was an old route over the Guadarrama between the two Castiles, and there is a trail below it, the Camino Schmid, named for a German mountaineer who marked it early in the twentieth century.

   For fuel and supplies, go down to Cercedilla, a town of nearly seven thousand people about seven kilometres away, or to Navacerrada village. The café and venta terraces serve decent coffee, hot chocolate, tortilla and soups, and the cold wind means you will want something warm. On clear days you can see down to Madrid, a haze of towers on the plain.

   The riding is the real draw. On the Madrid side the road offers a satisfying sequence of hairpins and medium-speed bends, with good surface and mostly good visibility. The Segovia side is gentler and wooded, running down toward the old royal forest of Valsaín. On weekends the pass is busy with bikes, cars and cyclists, so a weekday or early morning is much more pleasant. Snow can close the road or demand chains in winter, and cold fog is common. Late spring, early summer and autumn are the finest times, with crisp air and dazzling light.

2. Segovia old town sight

   Segovia announces itself with a Roman aqueduct, and nothing else in Spain quite prepares you for it. Built around the first or second century, the granite blocks are stacked in two tiers of arches without any mortar, and the whole thing strides through the middle of the town like something from a film set. It carried water from the mountains for nearly two thousand years, and in the oldest parts of the city you can still see how it dictated the shape of the streets around it.

   The old town stands on a rocky spur between two small rivers, the Eresma and the Clamores, and it is a UNESCO site since 1985. At the western tip, the Alcázar rises like the prow of a ship, with pointed turrets that are said to have inspired Walt Disney, and at the centre the Gothic cathedral, late and magnificent, is nicknamed the lady of cathedrals. The city sits at about a thousand metres, which means cool mornings and sharp winters even when Madrid is baking, and the old stone smells faintly of woodsmoke. Eat here as the locals do: cochinillo asado, roast suckling pig, is the speciality, served in dim cellars where the waiters traditionally cut it with the edge of a plate. For something sweet, ask for ponche segoviano, a sponge-and-custard cake with marzipan.

   For riding, think of Segovia as the reward at the end of the mountain section. The roads in from the sierra, over passes like Navacerrada or Cotos, climb through pine forest with sweeping views and cool air, and the descent toward the Castilian plain comes with long, easy bends. In town, the old quarter is difficult for cars and tough on bikes, with steep cobbles and one-way systems, so park below near the aqueduct or in an underground car park and walk up. Segovia has fuel on its outskirts, and you can find coffee in almost any plaza.

   Come when the day is cooling. The aqueduct goes honey-gold in late light, the storks arrive on the towers, and you will want to sit with a drink and simply look at it.

3. La Granja palace photo

   Philip V was a homesick king. Born in France and raised at Versailles, he came to the Spanish throne in 1700 and spent much of his reign longing for the gardens of his childhood, so in the early eighteenth century he built himself a retreat at La Granja de San Ildefonso, on the northern slope of the Sierra de Guadarrama, and filled the grounds with French-style avenues, clipped hedges and an extravagant series of fountains and statues. The result is a baroque palace that looks out on a mountain wall rather than a French plain.

   The gardens are the draw. Water is fed from the mountains above, and on certain days the fountains are switched on in sequence, a spectacle that draws crowds in summer and is worth timing if you can. The palace itself, a warm pink and cream building, houses a fine collection of tapestries, and Philip V, who abdicated and then returned to the throne, is buried in the collegiate church next door. There was also a royal glass factory in the town, which turned out mirrors and chandeliers, and the glass tradition survives in a museum.

   The town sits at an altitude of around twelve hundred metres, which means cool nights even in summer and proper winters, and the pine forests of Valsaín stretch up behind it towards the Puerto de Navacerrada. The riding in and out is a lovely mix of sweeping main roads and narrower forest lanes, with plenty of shade and the scent of pine resin. The surface is good in general, but ice can linger in shaded bends from late autumn to early spring, so check conditions in the colder months.

   San Ildefonso itself has about five thousand people and is a convenient stop, with a petrol station, cafes along the main street and several bakeries selling the local speciality of ponche segoviano, a sponge cake layered with custard and marzipan. Segovia, with its Roman aqueduct, lies only a short distance down the hill, so you can pair the two on a single day.

   If you are here for pictures, the best light on the palace front comes in the morning, before the tour coaches arrive, and the gardens look their best in autumn when the chestnuts and limes turn gold.

4. Rascafría food food

   Rascafría is the main village of the upper Lozoya valley, a green, high, glacier-carved trough on the northern side of the Sierra de Guadarrama where the Lozoya river runs down from the peaks. It is a small place, around sixteen hundred people, but it feels bigger than it is because of what surrounds it: the great ridge of Peñalara, the highest summit in the range at a little over two thousand four hundred metres, lies just to the west, and the old pine forests close in on all sides.

   On the edge of the village stands the monastery of Santa María de El Paular, founded as a Carthusian house at the end of the fourteenth century by a Castilian king and later used by Benedictine monks. The buildings include a Gothic church with a famous carved altarpiece in alabaster, a cloister, and a quiet, prosperous feeling that suits the setting. A short walk away a wooded path leads past the Lozoya river to the old bridge and the Presillas pools, where Madrileños come in summer to splash about in cold clear water.

   This is also a food stop with some character. The valley is known for river trout, for roast lamb and for hearty mountain stews, and the village has plenty of cosy restaurants and bars where you can sit at a big table by a fire in winter. Do not expect an elegant menu; the point is warm, solid food in good quantity, with a plate of cheese and a jug of local wine, and a coffee afterwards on a terrace with the sound of running water.

   The riding here is what draws motorcyclists. The road from the Puerto de Cotos down through the pines is a long, flowing run of well-banked bends, and the approach from the Morcuera pass on the other side is equally good, with some tight hairpins and lovely views. In summer the traffic is heavy at weekends, with walkers and cyclists, and in winter the high passes can have snow and ice, so look for any closures before setting out.

   For fuel, check your tank before leaving the valley: San Ildefonso, over the pass to the north, is the sensible larger town, and Rascafría itself should have a pump, but do not rely on it late in the evening.

5. Back to Navacerrada Pass finish

   Back at Navacerrada Pass. That is the ride.

Where this sits

Rides near here