Overlanding the Altiplano Granada
Living in rural Andalucia has its benefits, the area is expansive, made up from mountain ranges, endless olive and almond groves and it’s rough in places – especially off the beaten track. The good thing is you can choose almost anywhere you’d like to go and while wild camping is strictly prohibited except in designated areas there is nothing to stop you going out on an all nighter or even just an evening.
Sometimes you just need to get out the house.
This is something we do quite often, we are lucky enough to live in the middle of the ‘Altiplano de Granada’ so heading out into the countryside for an afternoon or up into hills for a late one is easy and we don’t have to travel far. There are no rules in overlanding [in our opinion] and it doesn’t have to be a full on expedition, the point is to get out, enjoy a journey and spend some time at a planned destination.
The video above shows a mini ‘ruta’ just a few kilometers away from the village of Orce.
Overlanding the Altiplano Granada offers up plenty of variation too, you have reservoirs, mountainous areas, rivers, plenty of offroad trails and numerous areas to explore, the area is made up of 14 municipalities in total: Baza, Benamaurel, Caniles, Castilléjar, Castril, Cortes de Baza, Cúllar, Cuevas del Campo, Freila, Galera, Huéscar, Orce, Puebla de Don Fadrique y Zújar. Each has it’s own attractions but for overlanding Castril stands out probably the most due to it’s stunning drive, water and mountain trails.
you are right out in the middle of the Andalucian countryside and with the exception of the odd cortijo there is nobody else around.
Staying closer to home we have the Sierra de Orce which is essentially a ridge, getting there involves winding track through the mountains which are covered in pines, the elevation is well over 3500ft and there are numerous places to stop – you are right out in the middle of the Andalucian countryside and with the exception of the odd cortijo there is nobody else around.
It’s all too easy to stay at home, let the kids spend even more time on the computer and slouch in front of the TV on a Friday night after a hard week but hey, work hard, overland hard right? Catching the overland bug has been one of the better things that has happened to us during our time in Spain, even just a few hours out of the house has its benefits, there is nothing quite like cooking your evening meal on the top of a mountain and chilling out to watch the moon come up.
Are you overlanding with kids? Do you overland short trips or even half days? Let us know in the comments below.
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