We saw this amazing place on some Youtube video about Andalusia and had to experience it. Then we learned that in recent decades this gorge and its walkway had the reputation as “the world’s most dangerous walkway.”
That was before a complete rebuild completed in 2015. Since then, some 300,000 people walk the caminito without falling into the gorge.
In this post, you’re going to get a break from decorated palaces, wine tastings, history rabbit holes — just like we did. Mostly, please enjoy the cliff-hugging views!
OK, where exactly are we? This is the Gaitanes Gorge, a deep limestone canyon cut by the Guadalhorce River in the province of Málaga, inland from the Costa del Sol. For millennia, people have trekked through this canyon between coastal lands and inland valleys.
Some of the rocks date back to the Jurassic period. You can see fossils of ammonites, which are shelled cephalopods that died out about 66 million years ago. You can see two in this cliff-wall image. Look in the center right for little spirals.
People have lived here since at least neolithic times. In fact, here’s one of their caves.
One of the emblematic animals of the gorge is the griffon vulture. We saw quite a few riding the air currents. As well as history of their droppings.
There are also cuter residents of the valley:
At the start of the 20th century, local industrial families conceived of a project to harness the drop in the Guadalhorce River to produce electricity for their enterprises. The concept was to build a canal along the walls of the gorge with which to control water flow from higher basins down to the hydroelectric plant. This approach provided a reliable and steady water supply, even when conditions of the river in the gorge varied.
The builders as well as the operators needed access to the length of the canal. That need was the genesis of the rockface walkway. Many of the workers for this project came from Málaga’s port: sailors and dockworkers who were skilled and comfortable with working up high and with ropes.
The reason the route is called the Caminito del Rey (the Royal Trail) comes from dedication in 1921 by King Alfonso XIII. However, the story is that the king was less enthusiastic than the owners had wanted. Apparently, the king arrived late, the programme was compressed, and he walked only a portion of the service walkway, perhaps as little as few hundred meters, before turning back. Ironically, the king gave his name to a path he did not fully dare to complete.
Well, King, we donned our hardhats and dared to complete your route!
Let’s visit the three sections of the path:
Northern gorge
The route begins with the elevated walkways through the Gaitanejo Gorge and the first narrow canyon of the Guadalhorce. This section includes viewpoints over the old hydroelectric works and follows the line of the historic service path pressed against the cliff.
Central valley (Valle del Hoyo)
After leaving the first gorge, the path drops into a more open area known as the Valle del Hoyo or Hoyo Valley. Here the walk is mostly on regular paths through a wider, sunlit valley between the two gorge systems before climbing back toward the cliffs.
Southern gorge and final boardwalk
The last part enters the Desfiladero de los Gaitanes itself, with the most spectacular cliff‑hugging boardwalks and the hanging suspension bridge near El Chorro. This section finishes by descending toward the El Chorro dam and the southern exit of the route.
November 2025