Discover Valdemaqueda: Hiking and Heritage

If you are looking for a hotel in Valdemaqueda, the different hiking routes and the town’s architectural history offer concrete pointers for planning your trip. Here, trails with clearly stated details sit alongside churches, bridges and other historic buildings. You can focus on hiking, architecture or both.

Hiking trails with different profiles

The Puente Mocha hike is an eight-kilometre circular route of moderate difficulty. It starts at the El Canto de La Gallina campsite and passes back through the town centre of Valdemaqueda on the return leg. Prados de Hoyo, by contrast, is a six-kilometre, moderately difficult guided linear hike with a cumulative elevation gain of 250 metres. The two trails therefore differ in both length and layout: a loop with a return through town versus a guided linear route.

Prados de Hoyo passes through Valdemaqueda’s pine forests. Along the way, the hike introduces visitors to aspects of resin extraction as a forestry activity in the Sierra Oeste. Details of both hikes come from an official 2025 programme; check the current condition of the trails before setting out.

Another route description leads to the natural viewpoint at Risco del Gelechal and then heads back towards Valdemaqueda. At the viewpoint, you can watch the Spanish imperial eagle and the goshawk in flight.

Landscape and wildlife

The area’s natural landscapes include pine forests on the hills of Santa Catalina and Atalaya. The entire municipal area lies within a protected area that is part of the Natura 2000 network. This area is important for the conservation of several bird species, including the Spanish imperial eagle, golden eagle, peregrine falcon, black kite and black stork. Together with the wildlife-watching opportunities at Risco del Gelechal, these details give an impression of the role the landscape and its birdlife can play in a visit.

Buildings and local history

Puente Mocha is 55 metres long and crosses the Río Cofio on the route connecting Valdemaqueda with Villaescusa. Its four semicircular arches rise directly from the ground. The bridge can therefore be described both by its size and by a distinctive feature of its construction.

The parish church of San Lorenzo Martir was built in the 16th century as a rectangular, single-nave structure and was later restored. Its features include a Gothic chancel and a Renaissance portal. The portal was separated from the modern masonry as an archaeological reference. The Ermita de Ntra. Señora de los Remedios, meanwhile, has 17th-century Baroque elements, a single-nave interior and a preserved image of the Virgen de los Remedios.

The Viaducto de Zarzalón also links architectural history with infrastructure: the stone railway viaduct with arches lies on the Madrid–Ávila line, dates from 1863 and is under full protection. It is almost 90 metres long and reaches a maximum height of 29 metres at its centre. At the former Palacio de Medinaceli, only the portal and coat of arms remain of the former palace-castle of the House of Medinaceli; both date from before 1870.

The town’s history also includes a glassworks acquired in the 16th and 17th centuries. It was responsible for making the windows for the ambulatory area of Segovia Cathedral. A cultural route passes three public fountains and reaches the Fuente de la Fragua, considered Valdemaqueda’s oldest public fountain. Thus, the town’s history encompasses crafts and public fountains as well as religious and engineering structures.

Discover more destinations: Nuevo Baztán, San Sebastián De Los Reyes, Colmenarejo, La Estación, Canencia, El Molar, Valdilecha, Villalbilla.

For the broader travel overview: Madrid.