UKC

Climbs 66
Rocktype Limestone
Altitude 527m a.s.l
Faces E

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Knee jam rest on Bobo dodo (L1) at Fraguel © climberchristy

Crag features

Fraguel is a stunning cliff that has the best hard sport climbing on the island, attracting climbers from all over the world. It is located in a beautiful wooded valley near the town of Bunyola, and is hidden from almost every direction, including the one used to approach the crag. The crag gets the sun until about 2 o'clock in the afternoon, which is a benefit in warm weather when it can offer pleasant afternoon shade. At cooler times, the crag can be extremely cold - even in April. This is especially true when there is any wind, since it howls down the gorge below the crag. If you're planning a long spell of belay duty, while your mate 'dogs' his or her 8a, take a big duvet jacket. Most of the harder routes will stay dry in moderate rain, but the tufas do start to seep after any prolonged rainfall. The easier routes at either end offer little shelter in the rain, but usually dry fairly quickly.

Approach notes

Update 17th April 2023 - Local climbers told us about parking further up the road which leads to the walk in. Some trees have been felled in a small clearing which now has room for about 15 cars. The walk in is 35 mins from here. 39.6845242, 2.7191786

It's a lovely walk in, nice and gradual. Final steep bit is only about 5 mins long and is marked with cairns.

(Wouldn't reccomend trying the below approach, got cut and snagged by fallen branches and trees the whole way, couldn't find the trail, lost about an hour trying to locate the downclimb staples. Walking out was equally rubbish!)

 

In March 2023 there were a lot of felled trees and branches in this area, following severe winter storms, which obscured the trails and made it impossible to follow the standard directions to the descent.

There is an alternative approach which is longer but doesn't involve going up twenty hairpin bends in your rental car: park at the cemetery on the southern edge of Bunyola and walk along a good single-track road and then a picturesque rough track to approach the crag from the south (from where it is easily visible). The route is easily seen on Google maps once you've located the shadow of the crag on satellite view. There are parking spots along this road but locals advised us to park at the cemetery. The final steep walk up to the crag base may be marked by small cairns. About 50-60 mins from cemetery to crag.

 

From the centre of Bunyola, drive towards Santa María. Turn left as you leave the village (this is 200m before a bar on the left). Follow the narrow road/track, gradually gaining height, through lots of hairpin bends. Just after the 5km marker, park the car carefully by a path on the right-hand side of the track - leave enough room for large forestry lorries to get past. Follow the path from the parking area for about 60m, to a small clearing. Keep to the left-hand fork. Dive left into the bushes, 15m after the fork, emerging immediately into an old charcoal pit (a grassy circle). Leave this on its opposite side and wander through the trees. Take care not to miss a right-hand turn in the path and continue until a tree blocks the path after 210m. At this point, break out rightwards to the cliff edge and scramble down a short, awkward groove with a rope and metal rungs in place. The path leads back easily right (looking out) under the cliff.

Access Advice

In 2014 the local administration was said to have imposed a charge for all recreational users (at a toll booth on the road up) for access to the area, but this seems to have faltered. Please report any changes or access updates to Rockfax/UKC.

In March 2023 there were signs on the approach road stating "Only authorised vehicles allowed". It wasn't clear whether there was any enforcement of this. There is a gate that is apparently locked from May to October to reduce the risk of forest fire.

 

 

From research elsewhere it appears the gate is closed in the summer months, from May to October for fire risk, today it was open. Finding the crag however from the charcoal pit is a real mission with fallen branches heavily disguising the path down, to the point we abandoned the approach. Could be worth bringing a compass and a machete!
climberinspace - 27/Mar/23
Hi, tried to go to Fraguel today, following the approach directions in rockfax there is now a locked gate on the small dirt track blocking the way to the crag. It's about 3km from the suggested parking so will add a fair amount of time onto the approach. There is 2 spaces limited parking the bend before but no where to turn around, had to reverse down 4 bends! No other parking so we bailed.
Annika Marie - 15/Sep/19
There is now a locked gate halfway up the road the approach description recommends
Dean177 - 04/Jun/19
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