El Caminito del Rey, Spain (aka: The King’s Little Pathway)
I saw this trail by chance as I passed through the valley El Chorro with my Dad back in 1998. It’s been etched on my mind ever since.
At best the walk way is only 1 meter (3 feet) wide, has no railings and is pinned on the mountain wall at 700 meters (2300 feet) above the river, deep within the Gaitanes Gorge of El Chorro, Spain.
As we heading north towards Carzorla, Europe’s second largest national park, with my Dad at the wheel of our camper-van, poor navigational skills lead us here. Or so I was lead to believe!
My initial presumptions were that it must be a fault line in the rock; surely it was too high and extreme to be human? But no, human it is. That begged the question – Why was that the ‘best option’? Until today, I never knew.
Here’s the article I stumbled upon today about El Caminito del Rey and here are some photos to get your adrenaline pumping!
This would have been an amazing walk to attempt but we were ill prepared for such a stroll. I was still putting the finishing touches to my last Will and Testament, had a bit of a hangover and we had both needed a reserve of adrenaline to keep the camper-van on the road and away from oncoming traffic. A scary feat in itself!
Here are some YouTube comments about the route:
Vertikal1000 (1 week ago from when I wrote the post!)
It is not closed, but the? the starting 30 meters of the camino is taken down, so now you must climb in from another point. Quite easy climbing, but exposed. Along the whole camino you can attach yourself to a security line. This line is visible in the video.
And nobody has died from walking the camino. Three boys died when they tried a tyrolean traverse across the gorge, but that has nothing to do with the state of the camino.
Mediavidero (1 week ago from when I wrote the post)
It’s really dangerous; It was built for maintenance & Surveillance of the Chorro’s dam, a lot of years ago. Now it’s wasted and some people has died in accidents the last ten years. Now is closed and intruders would be fined with 6000 €.
Clearly there are conflicting opinions as elsewhere I’ve read different things. The future is unsure for the incredible “tourist attraction” but the good new is that plans are brewing, but this is Spain so don’t wait for anything to be resolved soon.
The Future of El Caminito del Rey
Even though access to the most dangerous walkway in the world has been officially removed in 2000, plans are to restore El Caminito del Rey, make it safe so as to avoid fatalities and make it once again available to tourists as one of the main attraction in the area. It is possible that the walkway will be privatized in order to speed up the repair works, however that would result in the attraction being paid for in order to access. We’ll see what future holds for El Caminito del Rey. At present time there are signs warning and deterring from access, but it is still possible to get on it and walk it. You are doing it at your own risk and with full knowledge that you’re breaking the bylaw. However it is unlikely we will see the most dangerous walkway in the world officially reopened to public any sooner than perhaps in 2012.
The memory of that route stayed in my mind for years and seeing this video does make me want to have another look at it. This time from a different angle.
So, whilst the legality of the above route is in some doubt; there’s a trail in China that’s a contender to the crown of “The Worlds Most Dangerous Walk”, and that is:
Mount Hua, China
This mountain is one of China’s Five Sacred Daoist Mountains, and has a long history of religious significance. The route has claimed more than 100 lives but that’s because it is ancient, a pilgrimage and the stats are helped by the fact many Chinese still climb at night so they can reach the East Peak for sunrise. The motivation to climb at night is so you simply can’t see the extreme dangers of the route and there are fewer people to congest a path that sometimes barely wide enough for one. Have a look at Robin’s video and see for yourself.
Leave a comment below and let us know which walk you would least like to do and why!
Lastly, for more walking inspiration here’s a useful Wanderlust article: 9 incredible crowd free treks
