Cycling around Casa de Campo Park

by Ignacio Vleming

On the west bank of the River Manzanares, a stone’s throw from Príncipe Pío Station, is Casa de Campo Park. For four centuries, this forest, which sprawls across more than 1,700 hectares, was a private hunting ground for Spain’s monarchs. When the Second Spanish Republic was proclaimed in 1931, it became Madrid’s biggest park, and one of the largest in the world. In terms of area, it’s twice as big as Bois de Boulogne in Paris and five times bigger than New York’s Central Park. You can get there by public transport (Lago and Casa de Campo metro stations or the Teleférico Cable Car) or on foot⁠—it’s barely 20 minutes from Plaza de España⁠—but given how vast it is, the best way to explore it is on bike.

Casa de Campo Environmental Education Centre, located next to the dock on the lake, provides a pamphlet (downloadable in PDF format) with three suggested routes. There’s also the Green Cycle Ring, which runs through the park from north to south, from Puente de los Franceses footbridge to Puerta del Zarzón gate. Motor vehicle access to most of the park is restricted, so the only real difficulty that less seasoned cyclists might have is likely along one of the stretches with steep slopes.

Entering the park through Puerta del Rey, the closest gate to the River Manzanares, and heading away from Madrid Río Park and Campo del Moro Park, you’ll find Vargas Fountain in the middle of your path. To the right, you’ll see the Vargas Mansion and the Reserve, which is home to a magnificent 150-year-old Himalayan cedar. On the left is Huerta de la Partida Gardens, which once supplied the Royal Family with fruit and vegetables.

Continue along until you reach the aqueduct built by Francesco Sabatini to provide the gardens with water. He was also the architect behind Puerta de Alcalá gate. From here, turn right for the first time to get onto the Green Cycle Ring. Very soon after, turn left to cycle around the northern perimeter of the lake and begin Route 1, the first of the routes suggested by the Environmental Education Centre.

The lake in Casa de Campo Park was created by joining two of the five ponds that were dug by Dutchmen Pietre Jasen and Adrian van der Müller in the mid-16th century, after Philip II acquired the lands from the Vargas family. The surrounding area has numerous cafés and restaurants with outdoor seating as well as some very unique trees, including a French tamarisk and a spectacular hybrid plane tree that grows at the water’s edge. The early hours of the morning and the last few hours of sunlight are the best times to sit and take in the fantastic view of the high-rises in Plaza de España, the Royal Palace and La Almudena Cathedral.

From here, you can continue along Route 1 by taking either of the alternatives on the Cycle Ring: the path that runs parallel to Meaques brook along Ronda de Lago or the one that heads down Paseo de María Teresa. Both of them are shaded by rows of leafy plane trees. It’s worth exploring the area between these two paths, where you’ll find Neveros Fountain, built in 1933, as well as one of the few elm groves that survived Dutch elm disease.

The place where the two alternative paths on the Green Cycle Ring converge again is very close to Pinar de las Siete Hermanas, a pine grove with some trees that are over 25 metres tall. If you like paintings, the landscape will remind you of the three panels by Botticelli that are held at the Prado Museum, which tell The Story of Nastagio degli Onesti recounted in Bocaccio’s Decameron. To compose the background of his paintings, the artist need only have taken a photograph of this hypostyle hall formed by stone pines. Just behind the pine grove is the Isabel II irrigation channel, which has borne silent witness to the park's long history.

For the time being, cycle past the detours on your right off the Glorieta de la Encina de Trillo roundabout, which lead to Ciudad Universitaria and Somosaguas, and carry on to an iron bridge. After crossing Meaques brook, on your right you’ll see a holm oak and an oak tree that are listed in the Catalogue of Singular Trees of the Community of Madrid. They are over 250 years old!

Cycle around the southern edge of Madrid’s Zoo Aquarium and make a detour to visit the abandoned San Pedro Hermitage, built in the El Escorial style in 1954. Then, get back on the Green Cycle Ring and head towards Puerta del Zarzón gate. Along the way, stop in the clearing next to Puente de la Culebra bridge, an intricate work of engineering designed by Sabatini which owes its name (“Snake Bridge”) to the sinuous shape of its parapet. The surrounding area is home to the densest, wettest ash groves in Casa de Campo Park. Unfortunately, the spectacular hanging tree –which according to legend owed its name to the prisoners of war who were hanged on its branches– died some years ago. You’ll still see some other fine specimens, though.

At this point, you’ve covered roughly half of Route 1 suggested by the Environmental Education Centre, which runs parallel to Casa de Campo’s Botanical Path. You can now leave the Green Ring for good, continuing to ride north and staying close to the stone and brick wall built by the same architect who designed the bridge. It has several grates to let water pass through, and a number of wickets so that people can do the same.

From this point on, the path becomes more irregular, with demanding ups and downs and dirt tracks. You can now cover nearly half of the perimeter of the park, right up to Cerro de las Covatillas. This path coincides with Route 2 suggested by the Environmental Education Centre.

If you prefer paved pathways, you can take the Green Cycle Ring back to Glorieta de la Encina de Trillo roundabout. You’ll recognise it by its enormous holm oak and because it’s where the detour to Carretera de la Ciudad Universitaria begins. Next, follow the Environmental Education Centre’s Route 3, which is very well marked by wooden signposts that show the Central Route in red. Cycle through Pasaje de la Encina del Fraile, heading steadily up a steep slope to Cuatro Caminos recreational area, one of the highest points in the park.

Once there, you have various options for the final stretch of your route. The first is to go down towards Antequina brook, which is where Route 2 would have taken us, then cross it using Puente de los Chinches bridge and turn right, continuing on to Casa de Vacas (or, Cow House), a farm—now in ruins—that once supplied cheese and butter to the palace during the reign of Ferdinand VII. The second option is to head to Cerro de Garabitas.

The surrounding area contains multiple bunkers from the Spanish Civil War that were built by the Nationalist faction. The top of the hill is now home to an observation tower, but in the past it was the site of artillery batteries that were used to bomb and lay siege to Madrid. The panoramic view of the whole city includes everything from the Cuatro Torres Business Area (now there are actually “cinco torres”, or five skyscrapers) and the Puerta de Europa towers to the Royal Palace and the Basilica of San Francisco el Grande.

The third option is to continue along Route 3, or the Central Route. It circles the forest regeneration area and bird sanctuary and finishes on the Green Cycle Ring, which, after you pass Pajarito Fountain on your right, will take you back to the lake and the beginning of your route.

Several companies in Madrid offer bikes for hire by the hour or by the day, and even guided two-wheeled tours through Casa de Campo and other city parks, such as those given (with prior reservation) by Bravo Bike and Madrid Bike Tours, both of which are available in English and Spanish and with varying levels of difficulty.

Before setting out, we strongly recommend that you plan your route based on the recommendations provided by these professionals, who are well acquainted with road regulations and are adept at choosing the most suitable routes for each person. It should be noted in this post that the maximum speed in the park is 20 km per hour, and that cross-country cycling is not permitted. Similarly, cycling is not permitted on trails, but it is allowed on paved roads and wide dirt paths.

Information on cycling regulations in Casa de Campo Park (©Álvaro López del Cerro).

Although bicimad, the municipal public electric bike hire service, does not currently have a docking station in Casa de Campo Park–the closest is located in front of Príncipe Pío–you're allowed to use its bikes to ride in the park. It's important to bear in mind that rates rise considerably after the third hour, which means it may not be the best option for longer routes, especially if you want to combine them with an ice-cold beer at the outdoor cafés by the lake or have a nap under one of the park's historic trees.

Like many Madrileños, I only really got to know Casa de Campo Park a few years ago, probably because banning motor vehicle traffic and burying the M-30 motorway facilitated access for walkers and cyclists. In early spring the park turns very green, and from June on it grows increasingly parched. You’ll have to come back again in October and November, when the area around the lake and Meaques brook is tinged with yellow and the holm oaks on the hills seem to come back to life with the first autumn rains after the long lethargy of summer. In any event, it’s always an amazing natural setting just 10 minutes by bike from the centre of Madrid.