Serra de la Xortà. Guadalest, Morro Blanc, Blau and Penya Alta

We begin this route in Guadalest, one of the most spectacular villages in the interior of Alicante: a perfect balance of history, landscape, and architecture perched on the rock. Officially known as El Castell de Guadalest, it is part of the network of Los Pueblos Más Bonitos de España.

We start from the parking area of the Guadalest Reservoir, from where we head up towards the Sierra de la Xortà (or Aixortà). This is a Pre Baetic mountain range that stretches between the Marina Baixa, the Marina Alta and El Comtat, forming a continuous alignment with the Serrella range. It is surrounded by the municipalities of Bolulla, Castell de Guadalest, Tàrbena, Benimantell, Beniardà and Castell de Castells. The Xortà, Serrella and Aitana form a natural amphitheatre of limestone walls, ridges and ravines, which has led many to refer to the area as the “Alicante Pyrenees”, since Alicante is one of the most mountainous provinces in Spain, with more than 50 peaks over 1,000 metres.

We cross the Guadalest River via the dam and continue to the Barranc de la Font Major, where we begin the first ascent up to Morret de Balones, a good warm up for what comes next. This first section follows a forested path, with shade and a moderate incline.

We then descend along the trails of the Barranc d’Andailes, skirting the northern slope of the El Rastell ridge, until we reach the Collado, where the second climb of the day begins.

The next stretch zigzags up towards the Cova Calenta, eventually linking with the track at the collada, from where the watchtower of the Aixortà Forest Observatory becomes visible.

Before reaching it, we take a short detour to climb Morro Blanc (1,084 m), an easy and panoramic summit.

We return to the track and complete the final metres to the watchtower of Morro Blau (1,125 m), a strategic viewpoint dominating the entire Guadalest Valley.

Here we join the PR CV 150, which we follow to the open area of La Foia Plana, crossing it to reach our next objective: Penya Alta.

We pass through a small col between our summit and the walls of the Morro del Serrallar, and finally reach Penya Alta (1,219 m), the highest point of the route and an outstanding viewpoint over the whole region.
The descent can be done by retracing the same path, or by exploring the many trails created by the Iberian wild goats, which are very abundant in the area.

Once back at La Foia Plana, we continue along the paths of l’Ereta del Collado towards the Pas del Xic and the impressive walls of the Foia de la Font Major and El Somo, from where the Guadalest Valley and its reservoir—shining in its characteristic turquoise blue—come into view.

The final descent follows long switchbacks through El Pla and the Corralet del Civil, until reaching the Casa de Gorges, where we rejoin the paved track marked as PR CV 19, which skirts the reservoir and leads us back to the parking area.

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