Mulhacén is the highest mountain in the Iberian Peninsula with an altitude of 3,482 meters and is located in Sierra Nevada, Andalusia. There are several hiking routes to reach the summit, one of the most popular is the one that starts in Capileira in the Alpujarra Granadina and passes through the Poqueira Refuge. From the summit of Mulhacén, on clear days, you can see the Mediterranean Sea and Africa.
The equipment needed for hiking to Mulhacén can vary depending on the time of year you do the hike and the weather conditions. Some essential items you should bring with you are: suitable footwear for trekking and hiking, a trekking backpack, technical mountain clothing, hydration system (bottles or hydration systems), trekking poles, sun protection (sunglasses, sunscreens, etc.) and a first aid kit.
To prepare physically for the hike to Mulhacén, it is recommended to be in good physical shape. You can achieve this by running, walking or doing toning exercises at the gym or at home. It is also important to have a balanced diet. A useful tip is to carry a backpack with some weight and mountain boots when you go for a walk to get used to the weight and footwear.
En cuanto a la ropa, es importante llevar ropa técnica de montaña adecuada para las condiciones climáticas y el terreno. En invierno, el terreno puede estar nevado y con hielo, por lo que es recomendable llevar ropa abrigada y equipo adecuado para estas condiciones. También es importante llevar protección solar (gafas de sol, filtros solares, etc.) y un sistema de hidratación (botellas o sistemas de hidratación).
If you want to get to the starting point of the hiking route to Mulhacén in Capileira by car, there are several options. If you are coming from Granada, you should head towards Motril and then turn off towards Lanjarón. After passing Lanjarón, take the turn-off towards Pampaneira and continue in the direction of Bubión until you reach Capileira.
If you are coming from Málaga, take the A-7 motorway towards Nerja and continue until you pass Almuñécar. From there, change direction northwards following the signs to Granada on the E-902 road. Take the exit indicating direction to Las Alpujarras and Órgiva and follow the GR-421 road passing through Pampaneira and Bubión before arriving at Capileira.
Once in Capileira, you can take advantage of the microbus service that will take you from the park to the start of the route. The journey takes approximately 1 hour and includes a travel guide. At the end of the bus journey, continue on foot to the Trevélez viewpoint, a perfect place to take stunning photos of the town from above. Keep walking until you reach a fork: one of the paths will take you to the Poqueira Refuge and if you continue on the main route you will reach an old wide track that will take you near the summit of Mulhacén.
Capileira offers a microbus service that departs from the park to the start of our route and will later pick us up on the way back, a 1-hour journey that includes a travel guide. After the end of the bus journey, we will continue on foot to the Trevélez viewpoint, a good place to take some nice photos of this town from above. We continue walking until we reach a fork, one of the paths leads to the Poqueira Refuge and if we continue on the main route we will reach an old wide track that is the route that will take us a short distance from the summit of Mulhacén.
Car hire in Málaga can be a good option to get to Capileira as it gives you the flexibility and comfort of traveling at your own pace and making stops along the way if you wish. Getting to Capileira by public transport from Málaga can be a bit more complicated as there is no direct connection. One option is to take a train from Málaga to Granada and then take a taxi from Granada to Capileira.
The summit of Mulhacén is a fantastic experience, from where we can even see the coast of Africa on clear days and much of the Andalusian mountains. At the top we will find the ruins of the refuges that were used to make the first geodetic link between Europe and Africa, built during the 20th century and linking the peninsula with Morocco.
The return of this route can be done by descending to the lagoon, a beautiful landscape where you can take some photos and from where we will head to our starting point, where we will wait for the microbus that will take us back to Capileira.
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