Royal Monastery of San Lorenzo de El Escorial with Las Machotas in the background
We are ready to climb Las Machotas, the mountain formations that separate El Escorial from Zarzalejo in the northwest of the Madrid's community. we'll do it in an affordable route (between two and three hours in total) and suitable for the whole family in which, in addition to enjoying the natural environment of the Sierra de Guadarrama, we will get quite enviable panoramic views of its surroundings without too much effort.
For this we moved to the town of Zarzalejo, to one hour by car from Madrid capital by the M-503 and the M-600 after. The town also has train station thanks to the Madrid-Ávila route.
We will line them up from their south face, although there are many hikers who choose to go from the Silla de Felipe II (on its north face), the granite scree to which, according to tradition, the king climbed to observe how the construction of the El Escorial Monastery was progressing.
Old stone house with La Machota in the background in Zarzalejo
Legend also tells that the slopes of Las Machotas were the place originally chosen by the monarch to build the monastery thanks to its abundant quarries, but the opposition of the neighbors would have made him finally build it at the foot of Mount Abantos.
Once we enter the town of Zarzalejo through Avenida de la Cruz Verde we will see a brown sign indicating the way of the Chair of Felipe II. Time to park, since our route begins by taking the next street to the right until we reach Calle de la Fuente del Rey, which we will also take to the right until it becomes a dirt road.
we are heading the Camino de Entrecabezas, an old route that connects Zarzalejo with El Escorial marked as GR (white and red signals). A arrow to the Fountain of the King will get us out of doubt at the next fork. In the vicinity of this source we will see a homonymous chestnut tree cataloged as a singular tree by the Community of Madrid.
In addition to chestnut trees, we will also see oaks and some maple. The trees will gradually give way to rockroses and junipers and finally, to the broom at the top. With regard to its fauna, in addition to birds of prey and lizards It is also land of boars and foxes, but they are less visible.
From these peaks we will have views of the Monastery of El Escorial, the Sierra de Guadarrama and even Madrid capital
At a couple of points on the route you have to pass through wire gates that separate different plots, since it is an area of cattle exploitation at present. It will be enough to close them again once they have been overcome.
After leaving another stone fountain on our right, in about an hour we will have reached a meadow from where we can see the Royal Monastery of San Lorenzo de El Escorial. On the right we will have the Low Machota (1,404 m.) , and to the left the Machota Alta (1,461 m.). The latter is also nicknamed Friar's Peak, And it is that the knightly stones that decorate these mountains acquire whimsical shapes that make the imagination fly: the Ball, the Clapper, the Mute Giant…
Many people are satisfied with reaching this meadow, and the truth is that it is an ideal place to stop to eat a sandwich. we nonetheless we chose to go to the right to go up to the Machota Baja (also nicknamed Machota Chica, crowned by a geodesic vertex), with a little less unevenness but steeper relief. We will have to climb for another half hour down an increasingly steep path until reaching its summit.
The effort will be worth it: **once at the top, from its granite boulders we will see not only El Escorial, also its nearby towns, the Valmayor Reservoir, much of the Sierra de Guadarrama and even Madrid capital (recognizable by the Four Towers).
Here it is time to relax, enjoy the picnic, take out the camera and enjoy this enormous panorama of the Community of Madrid.
We return to the same place we came from. Once in Bramble, the ideal place to take some beers, a coffee, some generous portions, a cheap menu of the day (10 euros on weekends) or a chubby menu (30 euros) is the terrace of El Mirador (Guijo street, 14). As its name indicates, we will do it with some of the most pleasant views of the surroundings before starting the return home.