Pico Mágina from Mata Bejid - Jaén

Pico Mágina is the highest peak in the Province of Jaén, and the main highlight of this exciting trail. The first peak on this trail is Pico Peña de Jaén, a rocky peak with panoramic views of the surrounding landscapes. Then, after visiting Pico Mágina, you will pass Cerro Prieto, another significant summit offering sweeping views over the mountain range. And then you will visit Refugio Miramundos.

Along the trail you have splendid views to the neighbouring peak La Serrezuela and the prominent Cerro Almadén nearby. You can see Sierra Nevada with its snow capped peaks in the far distance.

The Sierra Mágina Natural Park, is a rugged and picturesque mountain range known for its dramatic limestone formations, steep cliffs, and unique biodiversity. It is a haven for hikers and nature enthusiasts, offering stunning vistas and a diverse range of flora and fauna. I was lucky to get to see Ibexes climbing in the steep mountainside up til Peña de Jaén (see the video below). It was a strenuous hike and I wish I could climb mountains with such an ease.

An interesting fact: Jaén is known as the “World Capital of Olive Oil,” producing around 20% of the world’s supply, from its more than 66 million olive trees.

The trail starts from a parking place east of Mata Bejid (see map). I recommend to use the forest path which starts approx. 100 meter from the parking, instead of the gravel road (the same applies on the way back). The forest path is approx. 1 km shorter - and in my opinion this option does not add more effort. You will come back to the gravel road further up and then still have 3.4 kilometers with gravel road before the hardest ascents starts.

It's not allowed anymore to use your car to drive the gravel road up to Cañada de las Cruces (and further). Some previous trails described here on wikiloc are not updated in this respect. The current prohibition has added 10-12 kilometers to the trail. If you want to shorten the trail you can either skip Pico Peña de Jaén (2 km shorter) or remove the loop via Miramundos (makes it 4 km shorter) or skip both of them.

This trail passes through;
- Refugio Libre (2.8 km)
- Cañada de las Cruces (3.9 km)
- Collado del Puerto (6.1 km)
- Refugio Las Covatillas (6.7 km)
- Pico Peña de Jaén (9.7 km)
- Pico Mágina (10.9 km)
- Cerro Prieto (11.4 km)
- Refugio Miramundos (13.2 km)

The three first waypoints are also passed on the return.

PS: I used 9 hours on this trail (including stops), not 3 hours and 14 minutes as stated above. On this trail I lost the GPS-signals on my mobile after approx. 9 km. The regretable consequence is that the recorded trail was'nt fully completed (laid out) here in wikiloc as I hoped for. Luckily I had the planned route with the most important way-points - which I followed 100% when I was on the actual trail. I also had all the pictures taken through the wikiloc-app stored on my phone. So I used the gpx-file from the planned route - and a few of my photos from the trail - to "restore" the journey, resulting in this short trail description. I also made a short video (see below). So I hope it can be useful anyhow.