Route description

Route 4 is Lagunilla’s most demanding, and also the one that climbs highest. Setting off from the Pilar de los Mártires, among thyme, heather and rockrose, gives no hint of what’s to come: a descent through El Risco past vineyards, olive groves, eucalyptus and pines down to the Collá los Cepos, from where the route’s toughest climb begins. The firebreak climbs relentlessly to the sierra’s highest peak, at 1,091 metres, from where you can see the Gabriel y Galán reservoir, the Peña de Francia, the Sierra de Béjar, the Sierra de Hervás and much of the Extremadura plain. One of the widest panoramas in the whole area.

The descent holds two stops worth the time. El Pizarral is an old quarry that once supplied the stone used to build the floors and window surrounds of the village’s houses, a piece of local history at ground level. A short distance away, the vulture feeding station offers one of the sierra’s most striking sightings if your visit coincides with feeding activity.

At the end of the route, the Pozo los Horcos and its huge, hard-to-reach waterfall are, on their own, worth the day’s effort.