Puerto de la Ragua (from La Calahorra)
Climb · Granada
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Puerto de la Ragua (from La Calahorra) is a 13.3 km cycling climb averaging 6.3% (+832 m), rising from 1201 m to 2033 m in Granada.
13.3 km · +832 m · 6.3% avg · ~11.3% max · 1201 → 2033 m
Stats computed from OpenStreetMap and satellite elevation data — approximate.
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Gradient by colour: ● <3% ● 3–6% ● 6–9% ● 9%+
Where it bites
Steepest 500 m: 11.3% (km 9.4–9.8).
| km | to | avg |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | 1239 m | 4.2% |
| 2 | 1293 m | 5.0% |
| 3 | 1361 m | 7.0% |
| 4 | 1433 m | 7.1% |
| 5 | 1491 m | 6.3% |
| 6 | 1562 m | 7.0% |
| 7 | 1642 m | 8.0% |
| 8 | 1709 m | 6.5% |
| 9 | 1762 m | 5.2% |
| 10 | 1844 m | 8.2% |
| 11 | 1911 m | 6.6% |
| 12 | 1963 m | 5.2% |
| 13 | 2019 m | 5.8% |
What it’s like to ride
The road leaves La Calahorra under its Renaissance castle at around 1,260 m and climbs roughly 13 km to the pass at 2,041 m, holding a steady 6 to 6.5 per cent with ramps of six and eight rather than anything that bites. The lower half crosses the dry, open country of the Marquesado del Zenete, then the road works into planted pine forest and starts bending back on itself for the upper section. Andalusia rebuilt this north slope in 2022, resurfacing 18 km and widening it to six metres, so the tarmac is good both up and down; the pass carries around 200 vehicles a day and you can ride long stretches without meeting one. The top is a broad firebreak with a car park, the cross-country ski station and a recreation area, and a view north over the Marquesado plain to the Sierra de Baza and the Filabres. The refuge building at the pass has been closed for years, so carry your own water and food, and take a jacket: snow is normal up here in winter, the road is usually cleared, and the descent is cold in any season.
History
La Ragua is the lowest crossing of the Sierra Nevada, and the northern approach follows the arrieros' route that carried oil and grain from the Marquesado villages of La Calahorra, Ferreira, Dólar and Aldeire over the pass to the coast and brought fish and salt back, on a line used for transhumance since Roman times. Gerald Brenan dated the first road over the pass to the Civil War years, and La Ragua was among the first Alpujarra roads to be properly surfaced, in the 1960s, once winter sports and rural tourism began drawing people up to it. The Junta de Andalucía rebuilt the north slope in 2022, resurfacing km 20 to 38 and widening it to six metres for 1.38 million euros, the first substantial work on that side in fifteen years. Club Cicloturista Guadix has raced it: the first Cronoescalada Puerto de La Ragua was run as a hill climb from La Calahorra on 12 May 2019, on the Granada provincial road calendar.
Worth stopping near the climb
More climbs in Granada
Common questions
- How long and steep is Puerto de la Ragua (from La Calahorra)?
- Puerto de la Ragua (from La Calahorra) is a 13.3 km cycling climb averaging 6.3% (+832 m), rising from 1201 m to 2033 m in Granada.
- Where is Puerto de la Ragua (from La Calahorra) steepest?
- The steepest 500 m averages 11.3%, between km 9.4 and km 9.8 of the climb.