Overlanding Sierra de Maria
The original plan has been to overland a 144 mile round trip through to Murcia, stop off at a reservoir for that afternoon and make a full day of it. However the night before saw a storm come over with torrential rain so we decided to stay local and explore the Sierra de Maria.
We had not yet had our all terrain boots fitted [they were still on order] and with the Andalucian campo easily bogged in places it was better to play it safe for a one day trip.
This was the second trip we’d planned using Gaia GPS and the app was coming in very handy indeed both for the planning stage and being on the road. 8.00am and we headed off into the Sierra de Orce, a belt of woodland adjacent to the village of Orce in Granada.
The one thing that strikes you about these tracks is how quiet they are, in fact overlanding in Andalucia [in our area at least] is very quiet, you can head into the mountains and not see anyone for the entire day.
Hopping over the Sierra de Maria and the views are stunning, the mountain range is much larger and it was a change to be on the other side of the natural park.
You never know what you might find…
Even in the Spanish campo you never know what might be around the next bend, abandoned farm machinery, although not common can be seen from time to time however big earthmovers like this are quite a sight.
The planned route did take us to a dead end however, for vehicles at least the track ended so we doubled back and crossed the mountains into more familiar territory. The beauty about overlanding in rural Spain is that you can explore the same area time and time again and still find different routes and things to see, exploring the tracks through woodland can lead you places where you have never been but you still know where you are such is the network of rural trails through the woods and mountain ranges.
Overlanding Sierra de Maria
There are numerous places to stop for a break/lunch crossing the mountains, tracks are in good condition and the terrain is varied with the route taking you through farms, fields, woodland and remote back roads.
Sometimes those shorter trips are no less inspiring than the longer ones, staying local can bring surprises and be a great day out.
Resources:
- Camping in Maria [campsite review]
- How we find secluded locations
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