Peñalara Natural Park

This is a natural park in the Sierra de Guadarrama with three park offices. The details given are for the Los Cotos office.

To get to Los Cotos, you first take the Renfe Cercanias line to Cercedilla, which is given as a trip in its own right. You will have just time for a drink before taking another train. This is a special Cercanias line, narrow gauge and mainly single track. It   winds up through glorious mountain scenery (stops are by request so be sure to let the driver know if you want to get out at one) to Los Cotos. In October, 2009 the return fare from Atocha to Los Cotos was only €10 and this would be a worth while trip, even if you are not able to walk at all.

However the park entrance is only a very few minutes walk away and the office is just inside. The very helpful staff issue a small booklet with diagrams of walks of various standards, showing gradients, height gained and times. The walk to the Laguna Grande de Penalara is estimated at an hour eavh way.