page_title: Sierra de Guadarrama
section_title: Places of interest
hierarchical_section_title: Sierra de Guadarrama / Description / Places of interest
caption_attribution_description: Español: Vista general del valle de Valsaín. La imagen está tomada desde la cima de Siete Picos, y en ella se aprecia el bosque de pino silvestre que se extiende por todo el valle y por las laderas de los montes de Valsaín. Tras el bosque, en la zona más baja y septentrional del valle está el pueblo de Valsaín, perteneciente al municipio segoviano de La Granja de San Ildefonso. El valle de Valsaín es uno de los más grandes e importantes de la Sierra de Guadarrama y se situa enteramente dentro de la provincia de Segovia (España).
context_page_description: The Sierra de Guadarrama is a mountain range forming the main eastern section of the Sistema Central, the system of mountain ranges along the centre of the Iberian Peninsula. It is located between the systems Sierra de Gredos in the province of Ávila, and Sierra de Ayllón in the province of Guadalajara.
  The range runs southwest–northeast, extending from the province of Ávila in the southwest, through the Community of Madrid, to the province of Segovia in the northeast. The range measures approximately 80 kilometres in length. Its highest peak is Peñalara, 2,428 metres in elevation.
  The flora of the Sierra de Guadarrama is characterized in the higher elevation Atlantic vegetation region with Juniper groves, montane grasslands, Spanish broom thickets, pine forests, and Pyrenean Oaks forests; and in the lower elevation Mediterranean vegetation region by Holm oak forests. while the pastures around the summits are fringed by juniper and Spanish broom shrubs. The mountains abound with a variety of wildlife such as Iberian ibex, roe deer, fallow deer, wild boar, badger, various types of weasel, European wild cat, fox and hare.
context_section_description: The Sierra de Guadarrama has a series of valleys and zones which are of special interest from both an aesthetic and ecological viewpoint. Due to the proximity of Madrid's metropolitan area to the Guadarramas, many such special interest zones are host to a large number of mountain climbers and general interest tourists the year round. The most heavily visited areas are the Parque Natural de Peñalara (Peñalara Natural Park) and La Pedriza, an unusual mountain formation.
  Valle (valley) de la Fuenfría
  An eastern valley situated nearby the City of Cercedilla (Community of Madrid) featuring one of the better preserved wild pine forests of the mountains. The valleys faces in a north to south direction, has a length of approximately 5 km, a width of approximately 2 km and is located between Siete Picos and the edge of the province of Segovia. The valley's dense forest features a deep creek and a well-preserved, ancient Roman road that crosses the mountain running toward the Fuenfría Pass . On weekends and holidays the valley is flooded with tourists and mountain climbers who debark at a recreation area with a car park found at the valley's lower edge.
  Valle de Valsaín
  Like the Fuenfría, the Valsaín valley is also covered by a well-preserved pine tree woodland, considered the best of the Guadarramas. It is a wide, sloped valley running in a north to south direction, having a length of approximately 10 km, an average width of 5 km, and is located between the mountains, Mujer Muerta and the bulk of Peñalara. On its lower slopes is the municipality of Valsain, named after the valley. In the heart of the valley, amidst the pine and oak groves, there are three separate recreation centers, each with areas for parking. Nearby these areas are a number of man-made Eresma river dams that create small pools suitable for bathing in the summer. Several paths begin in the recreation area that crisscross the whole of the woodsy valley.
  La Pedriza
  The Pedriza is one of the more exceptional areas of the mountain range. It is located on the south slope of the Cuerda Larga, in the municipal area of Manzanares el Real (part of the province of Madrid) and inside the Parque Regional (Regional Park) de la Cuenca Alta del Manzanares. The Pedriza's landscape is noted for its enormous rock formations and walls of granite displaying unusual and eye-catching configurations. Below the high rocky areas is an underbrush made up of rockroses and savin junipers which become a pine thicket farther way from the rock face. At the heart of the small valleys that make up La Pedriza runs the Manzanares river at the high river basin of its course. In the low part of the area is a recreational area with parking accommodations which allows visitors several routes to cross the territory. The most esteemed and sensational peak of La Pedriza, as well as its largest, is El Yelmo (The Helmet), a gigantic granite rockface towering over the surrounding peaks, rising to 1,700 m in elevation. El Yelmo's south face presents a massive stone wall that is highly prized by advanced mountain climbers. Throughout its history, La Pedriza's complex of caves was used as a hideout by exiles and by those seeking shelter during times of war.
  Peñalara's cirques and lakes
  On the south slope of the Sierra de Guadarrama's highest peak, Peñalara (2,428 m), is a protected area considered to be of exceptional beauty and which has been declared a nature reserve under the title Parque Natural de Peñalara; the only area of the Guadarramas to receive such official designation. In the reserve are found, three cirques and a series of lakes, all the handiwork of ancient glacial action. Peñalara's cirques take the form of walls rising more than 300 meters in the shape of a "U". Several small lakes are found in the areas surrounding the cirques, up to a height of approximately 2,000 m, which give rise to streams and small waterfalls during spring thaws. Most outstanding of these are the Laguna Grande(Great lake), the Laguna Chica (Small lake), the Lagunas de los Claveles (Lake of the Claveles) and the Laguna
caption: Valle de Valsaín, as seen from Siete Picos
exif: {"Image Make": "Canon", "Image Model": "Canon PowerShot A70", "Image DateTime": "2005:05:02 13:51:08", "Image YCbCrPositioning": "Centered", "Image Tag 0x1001": "2048", "Image Tag 0x1002": "1536", "Image ExifOffset": "144", "EXIF ExposureTime": "1/1000", "EXIF FNumber": "7/2", "EXIF ExifVersion": "0220", "EXIF DateTimeOriginal": "2005:05:02 13:51:08", "EXIF DateTimeDigitized": "2005:05:02 13:51:08", "EXIF ComponentsConfiguration": "YCbCr", "EXIF CompressedBitsPerPixel": "3", "EXIF ShutterSpeedValue": "319/32", "EXIF ApertureValue": "29/8", "EXIF ExposureBiasValue": "0", "EXIF MaxApertureValue": "95/32", "EXIF MeteringMode": "Pattern", "EXIF Flash": "Flash did not fire, auto mode", "EXIF FocalLength": "173/32", "EXIF FlashPixVersion": "0100", "EXIF ColorSpace": "sRGB", "EXIF ExifImageWidth": "2048", "EXIF ExifImageLength": "1536", "EXIF FocalPlaneXResolution": "128000/13", "EXIF FocalPlaneYResolution": "128000/13", "EXIF FocalPlaneResolutionUnit": "2", "EXIF SensingMethod": "One-chip color area", "EXIF FileSource": "Digital Camera", "EXIF CustomRendered": "Normal", "EXIF ExposureMode": "Auto Exposure", "EXIF WhiteBalance": "Auto", "EXIF DigitalZoomRatio": "1", "EXIF SceneCaptureType": "Standard"}