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Pedaling Through the Essential Routes of Sierra de Guara. It’s complex and, I’d almost say risky, to try to summarize the Sierra y Cañones de Guara Natural Park in just a few cycling routes. In fact, I’m going to focus on three, though I’ll touch on others that are also interesting to complete an overview of Sierra de Guara.
The fair thing to do when facing such a titanic and, I presume, criticizable task, is to explain why I consider these three places, or rather routes, that I’ll emphasize most to be essential above others. If you know this territory or are planning to visit soon and, after pedaling and exploring this brutal landscape, you think there are better places than those mentioned, let me know!
ROCK, WATER AND DESERTED VILLAGES
Guara is many things, though my mind always goes to the impressive canyons, the vertical walls, the water flowing through impossible places, and the remains that can still be seen of what life was like in this territory, home to humans for tens of thousands of years. So for me, Guara is all of that, and that’s what I want to show you in my three proposals for
pedaling through the essential routes of the Sierra y Cañones de Guara Natural Park.
SCENIC ROUTES
Ultimately, it always depends on your fitness level and how much time you have. If time isn’t an issue for you and you’re the sort of person who travels with two bikes, just in case, I’d always recommend getting an overview of the area on tarmac. In this regard, the more than 220 kilometres of the Tour de Guara Cycle Route are a must for getting your bearings and getting up to speed – always on tarmac, mind you. Starting and finishing in Colungo, this route – which you can split into five stages or adapt to suit your fitness level and enthusiasm – is an adventure not to be missed if you have the stamina and time to enjoy it. Here’s a handy summary of everything you need to know about the first stage of this route; after that, just follow the route:
ROCK CATHEDRALS
The only cathedrals for praying we have around here are those in Barbastro and Huesca, though more than one person has had to kneel before the imposing nature of the route I’m presenting. Catedrales de Roca is a not-too-long route, as it doesn’t reach 30 kilometers in distance, but with an accumulated elevation gain of 1,000 meters. Not bad. It’s a circular route that starts and ends in
Rodellar. It’s practically 100% trail and allows you to pedal through the incredible MascĂºn, with all its enormous vertical walls. But there’s also half an hour to carry your bike on your shoulder, you’ll descend to the river itself, pass by the Dolmen de Losa Mora, and connect on your arrival to Bara with another of Guara’s great rivers: the Alcanadre. There are abandoned villages, like Miz, descents
that are dizzying, and steep climbs to make your legs burn. Catedrales de Roca is Guara in essence, so if there’s only one route to do, it’s this one. There’s plenty of information on this here:
GRAND TOUR OF THE VERO
La Gran Vuelta al Vero has everything adventure lovers seek, though not everyone is made of the stuff needed to complete this brutality. The distance doesn’t say much, as we won’t reach 45 kilometers, but there will be almost 1,500 meters of elevation gain with very high physical demands, and the same can be said of the technical skills required of anyone venturing along these trails. But the reward will be worth it: starting and arriving in Lecina or AlquĂ©zar, your choice; touching the waters of the Vero, climbing to the viewpoint of the same name, the Villacantal bridge, the MesĂ³n de Sevil, the impressive views of the entire Pyrenees, paths between dry stone walls
leading to storybook villages. It’s worth getting in shape just to do La Gran Vuelta al Vero. Go for it, because there are few goals more worthwhile:
PARADISE LOST
Guara is water, rock, and humanity. Ancestral ways of life that in some cases have survived to this day and in others seem to have faded just yesterday. Villages and walls that are silent witnesses to millennia of occupation of this territory, because it must have something special when so many generations found their home here. That’s why, in addition to the views, the rocks, and the water, the villages and abandoned settlements should
be protagonists of the memory you take away from the Sierra y Cañones de Guara Natural Park.
Starting from Las Bellostas, ParaĂso Perdido will take you through Las Bellostas, the Balced River and its pools; the abandoned villages of TorruĂ©llola de la Plana, AlastruĂ©, OtĂn, Letosa, and BagĂ¼este; the Collada del Aire, incredible oak and pine forests, the RaisĂ©n canyon, and places as incredible as the church of BagĂ¼este, among many other points of interest. It’s 30 kilometers and less than 1,000 meters of
elevation gain in a circular route with many stops worth making. It’s not just about what we can see; it’s about imagining what life was like not so long ago along these roads and paths, and how that has allowed this paradise to survive to the present day as what it is: your favourite place in the world to cycle đŸ™‚ Here’s some info on ParaĂso Perdido to whet your appetite:
So here’s what I wanted to tell you: rock, water, people, and three routes so you can discover the best – and only the best – of theCycling through the Sierra de Guara.
