Walls of 300 metres, a floor barely ten metres wide, and a walkway that sells out months ahead. The Desfiladero de los Gaitanes is also a protected area with three free trails of its own, and one of them is currently shut.
Are there free trails at the Gaitanes gorge? Yes, three waymarked by the regional government inside the protected area that are not the Caminito del Rey and need no ticket or booking: Gaitanejo, Haza del Río and Los Embalses, the last with a spur to its own viewpoint. Gaitanejo carries a closure notice dated 12 February 2026 with no reopening date.
The sheet for the Gaitanejo trail carries a line in capitals, “TEMPORARILY CLOSED (SEE NEWS AND NOTICES SECTION)”, and the reason the Junta de Andalucía gives is the risk of water releases. The other two run free and unbooked: two of about 4.3 km each, one circular and medium, one linear and easy, plus Haza del Río at Álora, 4,361 metres in 1 hour 15 minutes.
The February 2026 closure, and why
The sheet for the Gaitanejo trail carries a line in capitals: “TEMPORARILY CLOSED (SEE NEWS AND NOTICES SECTION)”.
The closure is dated. It applies from 12 February 2026, and the reason the Junta de Andalucía gives is possible reservoir releases. No reopening date is published.
It is the same kind of water-driven restriction documented at Buitreras Canyon, where the ban covers watercourses on the Granada side.
Three kilometres of canyon, ten metres wide
The area sheet describes the gorge with three measurements that explain the effect: walls “reaching 300 metres in height”, a width “that in most places does not exceed ten metres”, and “a canyon more than three kilometres long”.
The Guadalhorce cut it, the same river whose mouth is now the wetland described in the Guadalhorce estuary.
Spanish ibex live on the tops, and the air belongs to griffon vultures with breeding colonies, peregrine falcon and golden eagles.
What the open trail looks out on
Haza del Río is not just a walk. From it you see the ruins of the Mozarabic city of Bobastro, from the 10th century, the Conde de Guadalhorce reservoir, and the Haza del Río cliffs, which hold a griffon vulture colony.
Those reservoirs are the ones covered in El Chorro and its reservoirs, and the vulture turns up again, as it does on the cliffs above Casares.
The closed route had its own draw: pine woodland, a forest track and a tunnel leading to the El Gaitanejo hydroelectric station, described as one of the oldest in Spain.
The three trails, and which one still works
| Trail | Municipality | Distance | Time | Grade | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Gaitanejo | Ardales | 4,340 m, circular | 2 hours | Medium | Temporarily closed |
| Haza del Río | Álora | 4,361 m, linear | 1 h 15 min | Low | No closure notice |
| Los Embalses | — | Not published | Not published | Not published | Spur to the viewpoint |
The first two are almost exactly the same length, about 4.3 kilometres, but they ask for different things: one is circular and graded medium, the other linear and graded low.
For the third, Los Embalses, no readable figures are published, so none are invented here. What is on record is the spur running up to the Los Embalses viewpoint.
Three things follow from the table:
- Haza del Río is the usable one, at 4,361 metres and 1 hour 15 minutes, graded low.
- Gaitanejo is out, and with it the tunnel walk to the El Gaitanejo hydroelectric station.
- Los Embalses is a question mark, since the regional government publishes no figures for it at all.
Who the gorge belongs to on paper
Four labels sit on the same ground: paraje natural, SAC, SPA and biosphere reserve, across 3 municipalities.
The practical consequence is visible on the ground: 3 waymarked trails with published grades, and closure notices carrying dates, such as the 12 February 2026 one now in force.
Three reserves declared on one day
On 28 July 1989 the regional government declared this area and two others in the province: Sierra Crestellina at Casares and Los Reales de Sierra Bermeja at Estepona.
This is the largest of the three by a wide margin, spread across Álora, Antequera and Ardales, while its two siblings sit on the coast side of the province.
For the walkway itself, which needs a ticket and a booking, see the Caminito del Rey from Malaga; for effort against other routes, hiking near Malaga; and for the full day, day trips from Malaga.
Frequently asked questions about the Gaitanes gorge trails
Are there free trails at the Gaitanes gorge?
Yes. The regional government waymarks three inside the protected area that are not the Caminito del Rey and need no ticket or booking: Gaitanejo, Haza del Río and Los Embalses, the last with a spur to its own viewpoint.
Is the Gaitanejo trail open?
No. Its sheet carries a temporary closure notice dated 12 February 2026, on account of possible reservoir releases. No reopening date is published, so the notices section is worth checking before travelling.
How big is the Gaitanes gorge protected area?
2,179.96 hectares across Álora, Antequera and Ardales, declared a paraje natural on 28 July 1989. The Caminito del Rey is one piece of infrastructure inside that area, not the area itself.
How deep is the Gaitanes gorge?
Its walls reach 300 metres in height, according to the regional sheet, while the width in most places does not exceed ten metres. The canyon runs for more than three kilometres, cut by the Guadalhorce river.
Three free paths inside the most photographed canyon in Malaga, and a padlock on one of them put there by the water.