UKC

Just wondering does anyone have any info on La Pedriza? I've just booked a last minute holiday there, leaving Fri. I don't have the cash to rent a car, I know about the bus to the town but how far are the crags from there? Is there any camping around the town? Or how cool is it to just bivvy behind rocks? Any and all other info would be much appreciated.
Thanks
Jane

In reply to janegallwey:

The "Placas del Halcon" and several other areas are not too bad to walk to from Manzanares. We stayed in the hotel in Manzanares which was very well priced and located right in the middle of the town, next to the climbing shop.

If you're looking at climbing on El Yelmo, La Tortuga or another of the major areas then you'll have to Catch a bus, taxi or hitch a ride to Canto Cochino. If you're planning on climbing in this area then you'll have to either bivvy (some very good spots) or stay in the refuge (marked on most guide books).

In reply to janegallwey: Some of the crags (e.g. Tortuga) are approached from Canto Cochino - the road goes over a col to reach this point but I think there's a direct walking track to Canto Cochino from the back of the town alongside the Rio Manzanares (about 2 km?). The path up to El Yelmo starts from El Tranco where the road ends at the back of the town. There are also some crags on the hillside directly above the town. I think there's camping somewhere near El Tranco but I've always used the hotel in town.

Lots of great climbing but the grades seem hard as the locals are very good at friction slabs!

Hi Jane,
From madrid airport we got metro to the bus station and then a bus out to manzanares (1hr or so and a couple of euros) then camped at a campsite on the outskirts of town.
From there it's a big walk upto el yamo and the days we climbed there were we kipped in caves below. Although there are loads of crags on the hillside above the campsite
The town has everything you'll need supermarket, climbing shop, bank ect
Have a great time its a fantastic place (if you like runout slabs)
cheers
jim

In reply to Rob Davies:

Yeah, El Tranco is what i was refering to in my other post, forgot the name. It's there that you'll find the crag; Placas Del Halcon, the main one in El Tranco area. El Tranco actually gets it's name from Camping El Tranco which is behind the town, loads of signs to it.

I'm pretty sure though that the approach to El Yelmo from El Tranco is far far longer than from Canto Cochino.

I'd recommend just going straight to Canto Cochino, find the refuge or a decent bivvy and climb in all it's surrounding crags; La Tortuga, El Yelmo etc. There's loads of good natural bivvies in the area of El Yelmo.

In reply to janegallwey: Camping El Ortigal



Campsite’s address
Montañeros, 19.
28410 - Manzanares el Real
Madrid
SPAIN
GPS: 40.74165 / -3.87509

In reply to janegallwey:

La Tortuga is a good crag to get started on those run out slabs.

I've found a little map which was attached to the inside of my guide book, if you'd like to see it drop me an email at: durante8652 at hotmail dot com
and i'll scan it for you. Should give you a good idea on what's where.

I'm getting all excited and want to go back there now after looking at my guide!

In reply to king_of_gibraltar:

When we were there one Easter there were huge queues to get into the park (and up to Canto Cochino) on Sunday and Monday. On the Tuesday it was deserted.

Chris

In reply to janegallwey:
Thanks for all the info, very useful. Does anyone know what's the cheapest place (non camping) to stay in the town? We'll be arriving late on the Fri and won't have time to find our feet and get a good bivvy spot yet. As I said, funds are very tight, can't really afford this trip but the miserable weather forecast left me no choice!