The route
The route is essentially going up and down the Puerto del León. This loop of 46 km starts in Málaga to summit the Puerto del León, and loops back to Málaga via Olías and the coast road. It’s a short but punchy ride and very enjoyable with pleasant views of the Montes de Málaga, Málaga city, Axarquia, and the Mijas mountain range in the distance.
The Puerto del León is a climb that has a bit of everything: it’s got steep bits, it’s got relatively flat sections and even a tiny bit of descent before you tackle the last 2 hard kilometers. There are hairpin corners and even two tiny tunnels halfway up the climb. And with 16km in length at an average of 5.6%, this makes the Puerto del León a favorite amongst the locals. Not to mention that the climb starts in the city center.
However, don’t be fooled by the statistics: 16km at 5.6% on average hardly sounds like a tough challenge. The difficulty of the climb, as is with many Spanish climbs, is that you can never find a rythm due to the constants changes in the gradient. The heat, and the wind during most other times of the year, don’t help the cause either, even though this climb offers some protection from the elements. Either way you look at it, you have to ride 900 meters up to get to the top, and that’s not just something one does casually.
As you leave Málaga’s center at the roundabout of Olletas, 5 tough kilometers will get you warmed up right away. Sections of 10% are rewarded by relative flat areas, and you’ll repeat that until you pass the first venta, a roadside restaurant, Venta Carlos del Mirador.
The next few kilometers are rather pleasant. Gradients remain steady and you can settle into a rythm, which comes just in time as the views of the Guadalhorce will start to present themselves. There is a mirador halfway up the climb where you could take a breather, or you can steam ahead to the two 360 degree loops and the two tiny tunnels. Upon leaving the second tunnel, there’s a final steeper ramp of a few hundred meters before you can finally rest your legs a bit with a short flatter, and even slightly downhill, section.
This intermezzo heralds the finale of the climb, which might be the toughest. Slopes of 10% to 14% are not rewarded with downhill sections, and the gradient doesn’t ease off until the very end. The last 300 meters even have a little kick of about 10%, and after more than 15km of climbing, that may hurt the legs.
When you reach the top, you can fill up your bottles at the Fuente de la Reina or have a coffee at the cafetería before you go onward with your route. Follow the road until Venta Galwey, a popular rest stop, and take a right to start your descent to the city. The descent is technical with lots of unpredictable corners, and the road is rather narrow, so be cautious. A few kilometers down the descent, there’s a short little climb of about 500 meters that forces you to go from the big ring to almost the smallest gear you have. At the top you reach a plateau which reveals an incredible view of the Málaga province, including the 2000m high La Maroma that towers above the Axarquia region.
Keep on following the road, and when you get to the next crossroad with the chilling and very friendly dogs, go right to go down the fearsome Muro de Olías (with sections of 17%) and the tiny settlement of Olías. Upon leaving Olías, the gradient goes up again, quite dramatically, in fact. The gradient immediately goes up to 9% but gradually eases off to 6 and 7%, and after a short 2 km or so, you can begin the final descent to El Palo. This descent is also technical and the road surface is worse than before. Many hairpins and unpredictable corners requires focus, but it is a tremendously enjoyable descent. You’ll be down at the coast in no time.
You’re entering El Palo terrority. Take a right turn at the second traffic stop and the road will take you along the Paseo Marítimo back to Málaga. Although completely flat, when you’ve got bad luck, the wind can make these last 10 kilometers just as tough as the climb. Before they changed it to Costa del Sol years ago, they used to call this area Costa del Viento for a reason.
Fueling up
The route is only 50 kilometers long, so you could easily fill up your bottles before you set off. Along the A-7000, which is the road leading up to Puerto León, there are several roadside restaurants where you could take a short break. At the top of the climb, you arrive at Fuente de la Reina, which throughout most of the year has a water source with potable water. Don’t count on it in Summer though. Next to the water source is yet another cafe, popular with motorcyclists and car enthusiasts, and 200 meter down the road is another restaurant that serves hearty meals.
On the way down, there’s also a little cafe in the settlement of Olías. A few kilometers down, you arrive back in El Palo where you will find ample establishments to reward yourself with a coffee or something stronger.
Alternative routes
The reversed route is just as nice. Even better is that you have about 10km of warmup along the flat coastal road before you begin the climb. The climb to Olías has lots of twists and turns and can be more enjoyable than the ascent along the A-7000, although the road surface is not of the same quality. Beware that you will have to face ‘El Muro de Olías’ shortly after having left Olías. It’s a 1km ramp with sections up to 17%, and it continues for a while before you reach the summit, so don’t go all out on the first part of the climb towards Olías.
If you don’t feel like climbing the wall, you could take a right turn upon leaving Olías (MA-3202) that will take you to Totalán and back down to La Cala de Moral. It’s a technical and at times steep decent on a rather narrow road with lots of blind corners, so stay focused. When you’re down at the coast, you’ll have to go on a dual-carriage way (the MA-24) along the scenic cement factory for 2 km and will take you back to El Palo and Málaga.
Tips
Warmup
For those who’d like a little warmup first, the only flat piece of road you will find in these parts is the Paseo Marítimo; you could take a quick spin to Pedrejalego and come back before you start climbing.
Traffic
This is a popular route with motorcyclists and car enthusiasts during weekends and holidays. Some of the drivers have very little awareness of cyclists and will go very fast with little regard of what comes behind the bend. Although it is generally very safe and the Spanish are the most courteous drivers toward cyclists in the entire world, I suggest doing this route early in the morning on a weekday. You’ll be sharing the road only with squirrels, boars that cross the road, the odd farmer that has to attend to this farm in the beautiful Montes de Málaga. If you’re planning to do this route in Summer, you’ll want to ride early anyway as temperatures quickly rise up to 30 degrees, even when the sun hasn’t risen yet.
Challenge
There’s an open race where you could go all out on a closed circuit and test your legs: https://subidaalareina.es/