Rock Climbing In El Chorro

Situated only 50Km inland from Malaga, the rock climbing area of El Chorro is very diverse and has something for everyone. The main focal point is the huge limestone gorge, which offers some fantastic multi-pitch rock climbing with its own unique and intimidating atmosphere. There are over 1,000 routes at El Chorro across a good range of grades, with most of them being single pitch sport routes.  The various crags provide everything a climber could wish for with excellent limestone slabs, tufas and exceptionally steep walls; most of it within walking distance of El Chorro village. It’s fair to say that El Chorro has become a classic winter climbing venue and the ideal time to visit is from October to the end of April.

(1) The Lower Gorge

The Lower Gorge is very narrow, and it is where climbing was first developed in El Chorro, with the routes being intimidating and adventurous.  However, since the Camino Del Ray walkway was repaired and restored in 2015, it has become very popular with tourists from the coastal resorts, who are charged access.  Unfortunately, the consequence of this is that climbing any routes above and below the walkway is now prohibited. 

(2) Los Cotos and El Polvorin

Further into the gorge it then opens out and therefore receives a lot more sun and is considerably less intimidating.  The first crag in this area is Los Cotos that offers some excellent technical slab climbing at the lower to mid grades. Tucked around the corner from Los Cotos is El Polvorin, one of El Chorro’s premier crags.  Here there is an impressive steep wall with many excellent routes graded at F6b and above.  All the routes at these crags are single pitch. Traditionally these areas have been accessed via a series of railway tunnels, though this is now illegal. To enforce this, guards patrol the tunnels, and they will fine any climbers they catch. However, all of these areas can be accessed via alternative approaches.

(3) Makinodromo Area

Makinodromo is a truly awesome crag. It is probable El Chorro’s best known crag with its severely overhanging walls and tufas. There are many high quality single pitch routes that range from F6b+ into the F8s. The stand out route here is Lourdes at F8a that picks is way through the largest and most severely overhanging wall of tufa. 

(4) 2nd Canyon

The gorge narrows again into a 2nd Canyon, which is El Chorro’s least visited area by climbers. Here there are a number of single pitch and multi-pitch routes, though many of them are graded at F6b and above. It is a longer walk to these crags but the reward will be some solitude and adventure.

(5) Las Frontales Crags

Towering above El Chorro village is a knife-edge ridge known as Las Frontales. This ridge starts within the village at the entrance to the gorge and then rises up above El Chorro. The climbing at Las Frontales is less intimidating than the gorge, and there are a good selection of single and multi-pitch routes at all grades up to 150m long.

(6) Escalera Arabe Crags

Above the Las Frontales ridge is another excellent series of crags called Escalera Arabe, which has many excellent single pitch sport routes across all grades. There have also been a lot of new routes established in this area though there is still scope to add more.

(7) Las Encantadas

Las Encantadas is situated just outside the village of El Chorro and is only a few minutes’ walk from the car park. There are many superb single pitch routes that are long, sustained and technical wall climbs.

Within an easy drive of El Chorro there are several other rock climbing areas that are well worth visiting, in particular Desplomilandia that is only a 30 minute drive from El Chorro. The routes are generally overhanging with many of them graded at F6b and above. The rock is immaculate and the crag has the added bonus of being in the shade for most of the day.

The El Chorro Rock Climbing Guidebook is the comprehensive guidebook for El Chorro, Desplomilandia, and Valle De Abdalají. Published in 2024 it covers more than 1,500 routes across a wide range of grades, and has the most up to date information regarding access to the crags in the gorge. 

The Rockfax El Chorro rock climbing guidebook details almost 800 routes at El Chorro across all grades. In addition the guidebook covers 9 further crags close to El Chorro, including Desplomilandia.

The whole area around Malaga and Marbella offers some excellent crags such as Turón, Archidona, Torcal de Antequera and Loja towards Granada.

Which rock climbing guidebooks are available for El Chorro? What is the best time of year to visit El Chorro for rock climbing? What rock climbing gear do I need? What is the best way to get there? Visit our El Chorro logistics page to find out.

Climb Europe also has information about accommodation to rent at our El Chorro accommodation page.