From Montefrío to Granada by Bike – Washington Irving Route
This final stage of the Washington Irving Bike Route leaves the hilltop town of Montefrío and descends into the broad Vega of Granada. The ride passes the archaeological landscape of Las Peñas de los Gitanos, the historic town of Íllora, the villages of the plain and the geometrically planned town of Santa Fe before arriving in Granada itself.
After days of open countryside and modest towns, the Sierra Nevada and the hills that carry Granada create a strong sense of arrival — the same change of scale Washington Irving felt at the end of his journey from Seville in 1829. The stage is about 58 km: demanding only as far as Íllora, then almost flat across the Vega.
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Stage highlights
- Departure from Montefrío, with the fortress and Iglesia de la Encarnación on one hill and the Iglesia de San Antonio on the other
- Las Peñas de los Gitanos, a major archaeological site between Montefrío and Íllora
- Descent through Íllora and the Acueducto del Molino del Rey at Obéilar
- Villages of the Vega: Valderrubio, Fuente Vaqueros and Chauchina
- Santa Fe and the final approach to Granada along the Genil
The route in detail
Leaving Montefrío
Before rolling out it is worth stopping on the viewpoint that takes in both of Montefrío’s hills: the rocky spur of the old Nasrid fortress and the Iglesia de la Encarnación on one side, and the Iglesia de San Antonio on the other. That double silhouette makes the overlay of Islam and Christianity in the valley readable at a glance.
The route leaves town on the Camino de las Cruces. Local tradition links these paths with the last Nasrid frontier around Montefrío; treat that as colour, not as a documented itinerary. The first kilometres climb steadily, then the road works around the northern foothills of the Sierra de Parapanda.
Las Peñas de los Gitanos and the descent to Íllora
A marked turning on the Montefrío–Íllora road leads to Las Peñas de los Gitanos, only a few kilometres outside town. The limestone terraces hold far more than a single period: Neolithic shelters, one of the most important megalithic cemeteries in the province, later settlements and a medieval presence on the old frontier of al-Andalus. Even a short stop changes the pace of the morning.
The main line then climbs across the north side of Parapanda before the long descent to Íllora, once a stronghold of the Kingdom of Granada. On the way down, olive groves give way to cereal fields and the Vega opens with the ridge of the Sierra Nevada beyond it. The last drop into town is steep and can be loose; it is the technical crux of the day.
Through the villages of the Vega
From Íllora the route heads towards Obéilar. Just outside town it passes the mill and the Acueducto del Molino del Rey, a nineteenth-century arcade built to drive the mill on the Dehesa Baja — not a Roman aqueduct, and not the Soto de Roma. The road to Obéilar runs under two of its arches. Escóznar sits just off this corridor as the irrigated plain takes over.
Olive patterns on the western hills give way to poplars as the ride reaches Valderrubio. On the right, the Paseo Lorquiano leads to the Fuente de la Teja, a small spring beside the Cubillas about 500 metres from the village, in the municipality of Pinos Puente. The young Federico García Lorca came here to read and write; it is the right place to stop, not Fuente Vaqueros itself.
Beyond Fuente Vaqueros the route passes the Torre de Roma (Torre de Romilla), a Nasrid watchtower in the Soto de Roma, and continues through the fields around Cortijo San Isidro into Chauchina. Narrow streets, tobacco-drying sheds and the acequias that still water the Vega set the tone for the last easy kilometres.
Santa Fe and the final approach to Granada
After El Jau and the underpass of the A-92 the route enters Santa Fe, founded in 1491 by the Catholic Monarchs as the fortified camp for the siege of Granada. The town is laid out on a grid with four gates at the cardinal points. Coming from the west you pass the Puerta de Loja and leave by the Puerta de Granada; the gates of Seville and Jaén complete the plan.
From Santa Fe the path continues through poplar groves, crosses the Puente de los Vados and runs parallel to the Genil. Ahead, Granada gathers on its hills, with the Torre de la Vela, the terrace of San Nicolás and the Cathedral marking the skyline. Entering that view brings the long ride from Seville to its natural end.
