Rock Climbing at El Chorro - Logistics and Beta

Getting to El Chorro from Europe is easy as there are many cheap flights to Malaga International Airport, with El Chorro being only 50Km away either via train or car. For those on a budget traveling by train to El Chorro from the airport is relatively straightforward. From the accommodation in El Chorro it is then possible to walk to all of the main crags such as the gorge, Las Encantadas, Los Cotoes, Makinodromo and Las Frontales. However if you are staying outside of El Chorro or wish to visit the other outlining crags it is essential to hire a car.

In the village of El Chorro there is a campsite and a couple of refuges that are popular with climbers. Alternatively Climb Europe has an El Chorro accommodation listings page, where climbers can choose from the many apartments and villas in this area. 20 minutes’ drive away is the village of Alora, which is much larger than El Chorro. Therefore it offers much more choice in accommodation and nightlife in terms of restaurants and bars.

El Chorro has become a classic winter climbing venue and the ideal time to visit is from October to the end of April. However be warned it can get a little cold in the winter, especially in the gorge where you get very little sun and sometimes a cold wind. The summer is just too hot for climbing.

The majority of the routes in El Chorro are single pitch sport routes, where it is advisable to use a 60m rope, as many routes are up to 30m long. As the routes are generally fully bolted it is possible to travel light and take only quickdraws (12-16), an abseil device, and a few long slings. However to tackle the multi-pitch routes it is advisable to take an additional 50m half rope (for the abseil descents) plus some of these routes require trad gear. Information on which routes do require trad gear is given in the El Chorro rock climbing guidebook.

There are several guidebooks available to buy which cover the rock climbing in El Chorro. These are as follows:

El Chorro Rock Climbing Guidebook

The El Chorro Rock Climbing Guidebook is the comprehensive guidebook for El Chorro, Desplomilandia, and Valle De Abdalají, covering more than 1,500 routes across a wide range of grades. Published in 2024 it is the most recent guidebook available for the area, and hence has the most up to date information regarding access to the crags in the gorge.  All the routes are shown on colour photo topos, and it is in English and Spanish text throughout.

Rockfax El Chorro Guidebook

This guidebook details all the major sport climbing areas within El Chorro and lists almost 800 routes across all grades. In addition the guidebook covers 9 further crags close to El Chorro. In total over 1,500 individual routes are described in the guidebook, which are illustrated on full colour photo-topos with French grades. This guidebook is in English text throughout and is the revised 2nd edition (nearly double the size of the previous edition that was published in 2008).

Rock Climbing in Southern Malaga Guidebook

This is a selective guidebook describes 29 sport climbing crags in Southern Malaga, including 7 crags close to El Chorro (but excludes El Chorro itself).  Published in 2021, it includes the crags of Desplomilandia, Pozo de la Mona and Turón.

Andalucia Sport Climbing Guidebook

This is a selective guidebook covering over 3,600 routes in Andalucia including El Chorro and the surrounding area. The guidebook also includes crags around Malaga, Marbella, Granada, Cadiz, and Jean. Published by Desnivel, this guidebook is in English and Spanish text throughout.