Things to do
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Viewpoint
Balcón de Zabaleta
A small terrace in the upper town, named after the painter Rafael Zabaleta, looking straight down over the rooftops to the Castillo de la Yedra and the crags behind it. This is the classic view of the town, at its warmest in late afternoon. A free car park sits beside it and fills early, so arriving on foot from the Plaza de la Corredera is easier.
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Castle
Castillo de La Iruela
A small castle on a pinnacle of rock above the neighbouring village of La Iruela, a short drive or a half-hour walk from the centre of Cazorla. Park on the main road and climb Calle Cardenal Cisneros to the gate. Inside are the walls, a keep and the ruins of a church, with a sheer drop on three sides and a view over the olive groves. Entry is ticketed.
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Castle
Castillo de la Yedra
A castle on a spur above the lower town, its square keep holding the history rooms of the Museo de Artes y Costumbres Populares del Alto Guadalquivir. The buildings below show farm tools, kitchens and costume from the sierra villages. The Camino del Ángel climbs to it from the Plaza de Santa María, short and steep. The museum closes on Mondays and shuts in mid-afternoon in summer.
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Ruins
Castillo de las Cinco Esquinas
A ruined castle named for its five corners, on the ridge above the town, reached by a steep path that climbs from the upper town through pine and bare rock. Only a few walls stand; the reason to climb is the view over the rooftops, the Castillo de la Yedra and the olive country running west towards Úbeda. Allow two hours or more there and back, and carry water.
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Canyon
Cerrada de Utrero
A short loop through a limestone gorge on the upper Guadalquivir, near the hamlet of Vadillo Castril. The path is cut into the cliff above the river and passes the Linarejos waterfall, with griffon vultures and crag martins nesting on the rock faces. The circuit is about 1.6 km and takes under an hour, which suits a family or a hot afternoon.
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Lake
Embalse del Tranco
A long reservoir at the north end of the Guadalquivir valley, ringed by pine slopes, with small beaches and calm water for a summer swim. Red deer graze the clearings along the A-319 at dawn and dusk, and in late September and early October the stags roar through the rut. The drive up the valley from Cazorla takes over an hour each way.
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Landmark
Nacimiento del Guadalquivir
The spring where the Guadalquivir begins, a clear pool among rocks and pines in the Cañada de las Fuentes, high in the south of the park. A forest road reaches a small car park, and the last stretch is a scramble down over rocks rather than a path. The water runs low by late summer, so the spring is at its fullest after the spring rains.
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Hotel
Parador de Cazorla
A Parador hotel standing alone in the pine forest high in the park, on a ledge facing the Sierra de Cazorla with no village around it. The Cerrada de Utrero and the source of the Guadalquivir are a short drive away, and the night sky is dark. It closes from early January to early March.
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Landmark
Plaza de Santa María
The square of the lower town, with the ruined church on one side, the stone Fuente de las Cadenas in the middle and bar terraces around the edges. A drink at the bars here comes with a free tapa, so a slow round of the terraces makes an evening meal. The Camino del Ángel up to the Castillo de la Yedra starts from the square.
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Ruins
Ruinas de Santa María
The roofless shell of a Renaissance church built over the Cerezuelo river, wrecked by a flood at the end of the seventeenth century and used now as an open-air stage for summer concerts. The tourist office inside the ruins runs guided visits into the vaulted tunnel beneath, where a walkway crosses the river among ferns and moss. A guided visit is the only way into the vault.
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Canyon
Sendero del Río Borosa
The park's most walked trail, starting by the fish farm near Torre del Vinagre and following the river upstream through pine woods and waterfalls. At the Cerrada de Elías the path runs on walkways fixed above the water; after storm damage in 2026 this stretch is closed for rebuilding and a forest track takes walkers round it. The full route climbs on through two tunnels to the Aguas Negras reservoir.
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Garden
Torre del Vinagre
The natural park's main visitor centre, on the A-319 in the Guadalquivir valley, with displays on the park's wildlife and maps for planning a walk. The botanical garden across the road grows the sierra's own plants, among them species found nowhere else. Both are free to enter, and the garden closes on Mondays that are not holidays. The Río Borosa trailhead is a few minutes up the road.
