The mountains were not my plan for this hike, but it’s hard to regret visiting the striking Siete Picos, especially when you don’t get lost. Originally, the idea was to head to the town of Segovia outside of Madrid for some mild hiking. The last time we were there, well before the pandemic, I noticed some beautiful looking trails outside the city. Unfortunately, because we procrastinated on buying the bus tickets to this extremely popular (for good reason) tourist destination, we had to find alternative plans. When running through the choices, I decided that Siete Picos sounded good, as it’s one of the few places in the Sierra de Guadarrama I haven’t been to. So, to the mountains!
Siete Picos, or Seven Peaks, sits above the town of Cercedilla. Instead of being a single peak, Siete Picos is a ridge peppered with rocky outcrops. It’s named for the seven (surprise) prominent outcrops that are easily distinguished from a distance. The ridge can be accessed via a few trails originating in Cercedilla or the ski resort at Puerto de Navacerrada, which is where I started my run of the Cuerda Larga, but it’s located on the opposite side of the resort and Bola del Mundo. Starting at the resort offers a shorter climb to the ridge, but if you plan to visit the farthest peak and return the same way, it’s a long distance.
We chose to start in Cercedilla because we love the ups and dislike the out-and-backs, taking a trail called “Camino del Agua.” Though evocatively named, the trail really just follows a pipe that brings water from the mountains. It is appropriately blazed blue, so there’s that. Misleading name and pipe aside, the trail is quite lovely once you pass the last house, where it climbs gradually through a shady pine forest.
From Camino del Agua, we chose a more direct, but less pleasant route directly up to a series of overlooks called Los Miradores de los Poetas (Poets’ Overlooks). This trail was a sharp contrast to the cool pine forest. It had a less-developed tree canopy, so it was overgrown, sunnier, and overrun with flies, probably due to the cows that wander the mountainside.
On the plus side, we barely saw anyone until we hit the fire road and the overlooks, where suddenly we were overcome by all the people—mountain bikers, hikers, running groups, oh my. We walked on the fire road for about 5 minutes, coming to a major, confusing intersection. Off on the side, we noticed a collection of rocks that looked like a dolmen, but on further inspection, it turned out to be more modern, having been erected by a local mountain/hiking club. Here, we located the trail to take us up to Siete Picos.
Once on the ridge, we took a short detour up the rock scramble to the first (or last) peak. The trail following the ridge is mostly marked with cairns, and we needed to be careful to not follow one of the blazed trails leading down the other side to the Camino de Schmid. Because it’s well-traveled, however, it’s easy to follow.
As I mentioned, it’s really easy to make out the seven different peaks from a distance. But on the ridge, it’s pretty difficult to figure out whether some of the rocky protrusions are official peaks or not. In addition, because the ridge is broad and many of the peaks are more or less “off trail,” you can hike the whole ridge without going up one of them. However, the peaks do offer fantastic views and, in my opinion, the absolute best and most fun part of this trail is scrambling up the clusters of rocks, whether or not they are official. Some are quite easy and are definitely worth going up.
We climbed up both the first and last peaks as well as a few others along the way that weren’t particularly complex. We also climbed a small rocky false peak, sub-peak, or whatever you want to call it that entailed some more bouldering-style moves.
After the quiet climb up we had, I was shocked by how many people we saw along the ridge, as I didn’t know it was such a popular peak. I was also surprised that you don’t need to climb any of the peaks, as, from a distance, the ridge looks jagged and rugged in a way I normally associate with thinner, more exposed ridges.
Although, we had considered making the day a little longer by taking the Camino de Schmid back to Cercedilla, we decided to end at the Puerto de Navacerrada, mostly because I had forgotten to pack the sunscreen and was already working on an unhealthy burn.
Ending at the ski resort was a bit of a challenge, the main ski slope on this side has a gate at the top which my partner told me is often closed. It’s not a problem because you can follow the trail along the side of the fenced off slope, but it can be a bit longer, especially if you miss it at the top. On this day the gate was open, so we took advantage and went directly down the slope, where we found the bottom gate closed. Reluctant to climb back up the steep ski slope in the afternoon sun, we surveyed several of fences and gates—nothing was open and none looked sturdy enough to climb. Fortunately, one of the gates had a large gap between it and the ground. I tossed my poles and backpack to the other side and rolled myself under the gate, which then led to another gate at the end of a short staircase. Luckily, it was not very high off the ground, and we were able to hop over quite easily.
Feeling accomplished by the final challenge of the day, we strolled to the bus stop with plenty of time to change out of sweaty socks and T-shirts and nibble on some turron while we waited. Now I just need to figure out which peaks are the official peaks so I can return and climb them all.
- Total time: ~6 hours
- Total distance: 9.5 miles / 15 km
- Total elevation gain: 3,194 feet / 973 m
