Gibraltar - A PIE
Trail photos
Author
Trail stats
- Distance
- 9.89 mi
- Elevation gain
- 3,547 ft
- Technical difficulty
- Moderate
- Elevation loss
- 3,547 ft
- Max elevation
- 1,304 ft
- TrailRank
- 62
- Min elevation
- -36 ft
- Trail type
- Loop
- Moving time
- 4 hours 49 minutes
- Time
- 5 hours 43 minutes
- Coordinates
- 2916
- Uploaded
- July 31, 2021
- Recorded
- July 2021
near Catalan Bay (Gibraltar)
Viewed 1669 times, downloaded 58 times
Trail photos
Itinerary description
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We entered Gibraltar by car ... all very simple with the presentation of the DNI, as if it were Andorra. Spanish control and Gibraltarian control.
A red traffic light indicates that there is a plane on the runway ...... hahaha the entrance road goes through the "airport". Indeed .... you can see the plane passing by.
We parked in Catalan Bay (beautiful beach, what a pleasant surprise). There is a huge free parking lot, if you go early there is a safe place.
In this case, we traveled the entire road to the point and thus got to know the eastern part of Gibraltar since it was not on the tourist route and ending up leaving the van in the parking lot.
The walk to the roundabout on the main street will take us 20 minutes but we will not have to think about the car anymore.
Right outside the car park there is also a bus stop that takes you downtown, another option.
At the same roundabout, after the runways, we took Winston Churchill Avenue, passed the Cross of Sacrifice, entered the walled city through the Landport Tunnel and arrived at the main square of Gibraltar (Grand Casemates Square) . We left on Main Street, which is a completely commercial street. After several important monuments, we reached the Trafalgar Cemetery and went up Europa Road. We are gaining height and the views begin.
We arrive at the entrance to the Gibraltar Nature Reserve and a little further on to the ticket booth and the Torres de Hercules monument where there is a large viewpoint.
The entrance costs £ 13 and with the bracelet they give you, you have access to all the important / historical points of the Peñon, after scanning your QR code.
They give you a map ..... and plan a route.
In this case, it was already well studied.
We started going up the Mediterranean stairs (in the info it says strong level).
The first section is more of a trail, up first and then down, until we reach "the stairs". Then the real climb begins, an almost vertical staircase (like the military ones in Dolomites), dug out of the stone and zigzagging. We passed several abandoned military forts, bunkers, the Goat's Hair Twin Caves and balcobes / viewpoints.
We come to a hill. It will be the highest point they let you access.
We are between the O'hara Battery and some military antennas with prohibited passage.
We're going to O'Hara drums.
Awesome place and more in the way they have it renovated / preserved.
On leaving there we continue to the crossroads indicated by Cueva de San Miguel.
The Upper St Michael's Cave was discovered more than 2000 years ago and was used for various purposes: as a fortress in the 18th century, as a hospital and ammunition store during World War II. However, the Lower St Michaels's Lower Cave was not discovered until 1942. It was an accidental discovery by sappers while tunneling to the lower elevations with the aim of providing a secondary exit. They discovered a cave with several chambers, which could have been sealed for 20,000 years.
The cave is of extraordinary beauty !!!!!!!! with sparkles produced by its columns of white, gray and red stalactites and with a similar appearance to a cathedral with a pulpit, a chancel and an organ filled with pipes. This extraordinary and beautiful cave stands out for three reasons: the size of the main chambers, the abundance and variety of calcite formations and, last but not least, a crystal clear lake over 35 meters long.
We follow the route and start to find the macaques. At the Skywalk point (viewpoint with transparent floor) they are already very numerous and when we get to A'pes Den (the monkey's den) is where the largest colony is since it is an open area where they live.
The next point will be the Great Siege tunnels.
The labyrinth of tunnels known as The Great Siege Tunnels is perhaps the most impressive defense system devised by man. Reading his story is most exciting and enriching.
We continue and go towards the tunnels of the Second World War.
With the male population prepared for defense and before the plans of Germany and Spain to recover the rock through a military operation, Gibraltar prepared for an assault attempt by building a system of tunnels within the Rock (apart from the existing from the Great Siege). More than 52 km of tunnels have been built.
In this "chilling" tour you must wear a helmet! ;)
And from here we will have the small visit to the Arab castle and the return to Main Street through the street of the castle stairs.
We undo a section of the way there and we cool off in the cold and transparent waters of Catalan Bay.
Very complete day, very entertaining, cultural, with great views and fulfilling that of ..... today I learned new things !!!!
. To take into account that all the routes inside the galleries, the steps up and down, where the GPS does not reach, are not included ..... they end up being a few more km.
A red traffic light indicates that there is a plane on the runway ...... hahaha the entrance road goes through the "airport". Indeed .... you can see the plane passing by.
We parked in Catalan Bay (beautiful beach, what a pleasant surprise). There is a huge free parking lot, if you go early there is a safe place.
In this case, we traveled the entire road to the point and thus got to know the eastern part of Gibraltar since it was not on the tourist route and ending up leaving the van in the parking lot.
The walk to the roundabout on the main street will take us 20 minutes but we will not have to think about the car anymore.
Right outside the car park there is also a bus stop that takes you downtown, another option.
At the same roundabout, after the runways, we took Winston Churchill Avenue, passed the Cross of Sacrifice, entered the walled city through the Landport Tunnel and arrived at the main square of Gibraltar (Grand Casemates Square) . We left on Main Street, which is a completely commercial street. After several important monuments, we reached the Trafalgar Cemetery and went up Europa Road. We are gaining height and the views begin.
We arrive at the entrance to the Gibraltar Nature Reserve and a little further on to the ticket booth and the Torres de Hercules monument where there is a large viewpoint.
The entrance costs £ 13 and with the bracelet they give you, you have access to all the important / historical points of the Peñon, after scanning your QR code.
They give you a map ..... and plan a route.
In this case, it was already well studied.
We started going up the Mediterranean stairs (in the info it says strong level).
The first section is more of a trail, up first and then down, until we reach "the stairs". Then the real climb begins, an almost vertical staircase (like the military ones in Dolomites), dug out of the stone and zigzagging. We passed several abandoned military forts, bunkers, the Goat's Hair Twin Caves and balcobes / viewpoints.
We come to a hill. It will be the highest point they let you access.
We are between the O'hara Battery and some military antennas with prohibited passage.
We're going to O'Hara drums.
Awesome place and more in the way they have it renovated / preserved.
On leaving there we continue to the crossroads indicated by Cueva de San Miguel.
The Upper St Michael's Cave was discovered more than 2000 years ago and was used for various purposes: as a fortress in the 18th century, as a hospital and ammunition store during World War II. However, the Lower St Michaels's Lower Cave was not discovered until 1942. It was an accidental discovery by sappers while tunneling to the lower elevations with the aim of providing a secondary exit. They discovered a cave with several chambers, which could have been sealed for 20,000 years.
The cave is of extraordinary beauty !!!!!!!! with sparkles produced by its columns of white, gray and red stalactites and with a similar appearance to a cathedral with a pulpit, a chancel and an organ filled with pipes. This extraordinary and beautiful cave stands out for three reasons: the size of the main chambers, the abundance and variety of calcite formations and, last but not least, a crystal clear lake over 35 meters long.
We follow the route and start to find the macaques. At the Skywalk point (viewpoint with transparent floor) they are already very numerous and when we get to A'pes Den (the monkey's den) is where the largest colony is since it is an open area where they live.
The next point will be the Great Siege tunnels.
The labyrinth of tunnels known as The Great Siege Tunnels is perhaps the most impressive defense system devised by man. Reading his story is most exciting and enriching.
We continue and go towards the tunnels of the Second World War.
With the male population prepared for defense and before the plans of Germany and Spain to recover the rock through a military operation, Gibraltar prepared for an assault attempt by building a system of tunnels within the Rock (apart from the existing from the Great Siege). More than 52 km of tunnels have been built.
In this "chilling" tour you must wear a helmet! ;)
And from here we will have the small visit to the Arab castle and the return to Main Street through the street of the castle stairs.
We undo a section of the way there and we cool off in the cold and transparent waters of Catalan Bay.
Very complete day, very entertaining, cultural, with great views and fulfilling that of ..... today I learned new things !!!!
. To take into account that all the routes inside the galleries, the steps up and down, where the GPS does not reach, are not included ..... they end up being a few more km.
Waypoints
Car park
2 ft
Photo
Bridge
Tunnel
Religious site
Ruins
Waypoint
Flora
Intersection
Panorama
Information point
Cave
Castle
Beach
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