Some background about the walks and the Costa Blanca area, includes links to more photos and Wikipedia references.

Of all of the mountains on the Costa Blanca the Sierra de Bernia is probably the most famous. Our route is the Bernia circuit, a 10 km loop around the ridge peak of this formidable mountain range. Rising abruptly from the Mediterranean Sea, its massive bulk forms the limestone backdrop to the Marina Baja district. Historically a barrier to north-south transit it now provides walkers with a balcony for panoramic views that take in all of the the south Costa Blanca coastline.

While the nearby Barranc del Infern, a 200m deep slash into bedrock and home to one of the most famous walking routes in Spain. Known as El Catedral del Senderismo it features some 6,800 stone steps making it one of the best examples of Moorish civil engineering and their ingenuity and their endeavour. This dizzying footpath crosses one of the most singular gorges in the area to link neighboring villages through otherwise impassable terrain.

One of the most familiar and emblematic mountains on the costa Blanca is Ponoig, whose limestone cliffs sheer above the picturesque medieval village of Polop. Our objective is to get to the top for stupendous views out over the whole coastal plain, the trail winds its way up through pine forest then onto limestone moorland and then up the shoulder for the final ascent and a 360º panoramic vista of the surrounding mountains and the coast.

Fortunately not all of the routes are challenging and the gentle inland circuit around El Somo; provides some modest gradients and a doorway into the quiet and peaceful surrounding valleys , here you get a taste of traditional rural Spain where landscapes have remained unchanged for centuries. Broad valleys planted with almonds and olives, limestone moorland,views of the impressive Pas Tancat gorge and then the narrow Garx Valley and the ruins of its castle sitting astride a blade of rock and Bichauca, the high altitude valley where the local farmers grow apples, cherries and almonds.

The sierra Carrascal de Parcent sits at the northern end of the Tárbena valley and our circular route takes us through a variety of landscapes dotted with freshwater springs, views of a 300m deep gorge, the site of a bronze age settlement, views of the coast and the surrounding mountain ranges of Aixortá, Bernia, Aitana and Puig Campana. This is an area that most visitors to the Costa Blanca do not ever get to see.

Puig Campana. The second highest peak in the province, forms what is probably the most impressive mountains as it towers implacably over the Marina Baixa. Its sheer cliffs are renowned by rock climbers worldwide but we’re not going for the summit, instead we circumnavigate around its flanks to see this slumbering giant from all sides.