The activities before the start (“Badlands Warm-up”) keep growing, tell us more about it.

Badlands is a very international event (this year we have 50 nationalities), and we want all the people visiting us from so far away to enjoy the land in a more relaxed way before the start. We’ll have two days of Social Rides and get-togethers in Granada, with a special mention for the Badlands Talks by Volata, this year with some very interesting guests.

About the route, let’s start at the end, the finish line in Granada.

We were really looking forward to doing it again, as Badlands hasn’t finished in Granada since the first edition in 2020. That said, Capileira is a very special place for Badlands, and we’re sure we’ll return in future editions, but this year we decided to do a closed route, which was a real challenge.
With this new route, we have the longest edition ever with 820km, although we will have 1.000m less elevation gain than last year.

Tell us about the first part of the route.

The first part is very similar to previous editions, although we’ve changed the route in the Gorafe Desert, covering a completely new loop of 40km.
The biggest difference comes after descending the Sierra de los Filabres, from where the route enters the Tabernas Desert through new areas, before tackling the next section of Cabo de Gata and the Coast of Almería.

And after a year of absence, Los Pedrolos mountain pass returns.

Los Pedrolos, that tough and legendary climb out of Almería, is back… but we have something to share. The Almería Provincial Council and the Almería City Council wanted to support Badlands by improving the surface, so the climb is no longer a rocky area and is now in great condition for gravel cycling.
It’s a mountain pass that rises on the coast and reaches almost 800m, and now we can enjoy the views of the Mediterranean Sea instead of constantly staring at the ground.

… and from here on, the big news.

Once we descended the Sierra de Gádor after the La Chanata Pass (1.423m), a doubt arose. The first option was to return to Granada via the La Ragua Pass (2.041m), but we finally chose a route inspired by the Camino Mozárabe de Santiago.
With this option, we went up the Nacimiento River and entered the Sierra Nevada Oriental via El Romeral Pass (1.216m), in my opinion the most beautiful pass we’ve ever seen in the Badlands. From this point, we have a dramatic change of scenery, with almost 100 km through the El Marquesado region, dominated by a large plateau, arid landscapes, and picturesque villages.
From here, the route returns to the mountainous and forested landscape of the Sierra Nevada with the Peña Bermeja Pass (1.582m), just before descending towards the city of Granada, where we will finish after 820km.