Spain in-depth: Adventure
Canyoning in Spain
Canyoning in Spain
The geography of Spain has multiple gorges and ravines between mountains that run the rivers, full of landscapes and beautiful places that are only accessible by narrow paths guided by professionals and are the perfect setting to do canyoning, descend down some dangerous water or rafting.
The decent of canyons, or canyoning, is a semi-aquatic sport that enables you to come in direct contact with nature. Canyoning consists of: following the course of the river from a high point while avoiding all types of natural obstacles, passing through gorges and sliding down natural rock slides that have been polished by water. You will require more experience and training for jumping into deep ponds, passing through siphons, and going down waterfalls and vertical walls.
The way to measure the difficulty of the descents comes in 3 levels; for all of them you need to be able to swim so that you can really enjoy the outdoor adventure. Starting with the easiest level, level 1, suited for kids 10+. Level 2 is for kids 12+ with a bit more difficulty but it is also suitable for families and friends who have a bit more experience. Finally you have level 3, which is suitable for kids 14+ and for canyoners who are looking for adrenalin, including more challenging routes and higher jumps.
Canyoning is not suitable for people that are afraid of height or have vertigo and you always have to be accompanied by an expert or a local guide. Moreover it is important to mention that, depending on the difficulty of the chosen route, it might take up the morning or even the whole day.
To take part in canyoning you need to have the following equipment: a bathing suit, a towel and light walking shoes since the mountain equipment will be supplied by the company or the guide (such as the wetsuit, the helmet, sippers, ropes and harnesses – if needed).
Things like insurance, food, transport to the starting point and the rest of the technical equipment is given to you by the company and they usually charge about 50 euros for half a day or 100 euros for the whole day.
A few of the spots where you can do canyoning in Spain are:
In Huesca: in the Sierra and Canones de Guarra Natural Park you can do Canyoning on top of waterfall descents in kayak and rafting in the Gallego River, Ara River or the Esera River.
Lerida, Noguera Payaresa: has one of the best spots for canyoning and rafting in all of Europe with views of the Pyrenees; the best season to go coincides with the melting of the ice in May and June.
In the center zone, you can find the Jucar Canon, the Pollatos Canon and the Hoces Del Cabriel close to Valencia. Also in Guadalajara in the Alto Tajo Natural Park there is the Jump of Poveda containing different difficulty levels where all of the routes have ponds, slides and rapids.
In Avila you also have various spots in Gredos and Adrada, Enebro and in the Nava, however these last three are level 3 courses that require a bit more experience and numerous rappels.
In Caceres you can also find a few canyoning zones for excursionists with less experience. It is a place where you will find very suitable courses for beginners; the Desesperada and Garganton courses are level 1.
In Andalucia you can go canyoning from the source of the Verde River in Granada, the Sima of the Devil and also in the Tajo in Malaga.
