Sierra Nevada

Located just 25 km to the east of Granada, the main ridge of the mighty Sierra Nevada range - Iberia's highest mountains - is just 30 km north of the Mediterranean coast, resulting a heavy snowfalls when storm fronts pass through this area of Spain. These mountains offer some wonderful walking opportunities, especially on the southern flanks, where abundant sunshine and water from snowmelt create some paradise-like alpine settings.

The highest peak is Mulhacen - 3483 m - but there are approximately 27 peaks over 3,000 metres in this range. The southern side of the range offers over 20 lakes and there are 11 on the northern side of the range. Its geographic setting makes it a naturally a land of great contrasts, from the typically warm and Mediterranean environments of the Alpujarras and southern valleys towards Granada and the sea, to the inhospitable places found high in the northern valleys, which can be trapped in ice and battered by blizzards for several months of the year.

The National Park was established in 1999, in order to protect the integrity of its unique Mediterranean high mountain ecosystsems. It is a land of great environmental wealth, with 2,000 of the 8,000 species of Iberian flora, including 60 species unique to Sierra Nevada.

Summer (late May to late September) offers great walking here, with dozens of routes to choose from, 2 guarded mountain huts and several non-guarded huts.

For further reading see http://www.andalucia.com/environment/protect/sierra-nevada.htm