The village of El Chorro is associated with the award-winning Caminito del Rey walk, which each year brings tens of thousands of visitors to walk the pathway along the gorge. Just above EL Chorro lies another walk, one as equally beautiful and exhilarating, peaceful and tranquil, and with fewer walkers, and that is the Arabic Steps.
It does seem that the steps were not built during the Moorish occupation, most likely they were built in the last century, but why let that get in the way of an inspiring title!
This a circular walk that starts in the village of El Chorro. We start with a brisk climb out (on foot!) from the village on a small path that gently rises through the forest of pine trees, offering us welcome shade from the sun, heading for a clearing at the base of the near-vertical rockfaces. From here we can see that our onward journey takes us up, and behind, the Arabic Steps, as our plan is to descend the steps, rather than climb them.
When we reach the top of the steps, and on a clear day, we will have an incredible panoramic view; La Maroma (Tejeda Natural Park) and El Torcal de Antequera are to our left, in front is Malaga and the coast, and to our right is the Sierra de las Nieves Natural Park.
When we come to descend the steps we will follow a natural weakness across the rock wall, and although steep in parts, the going is secure. You do feel high, and where the path narrows, you can feel slightly exposed, but this does add to the excitement of descending back down to the forest track! At the bottom we follow the track back to the start.
Time permitting we’ll call back into El Chorro for some refreshments.
