Wonders · Campiña de Morón y Marchena

Peñón de Zaframagón

Peñón de Zaframagón is a 584-metre dolomite crag on the Cádiz–Seville border near Coripe, home to around 200 breeding pairs of griffon vultures in a protected nature reserve.

About Peñón de Zaframagón

The Peñón de Zaframagón is a Jurassic dolomite massif about 584 metres high on the border of Olvera (Cádiz) and Coripe (Seville), in the last foothills of the Grazalema mountains. The Guadalporcún river has cut the narrow Estrechón gorge at its foot. A 448-hectare nature reserve was declared in 1989, mainly for its griffon vultures: around 200 breeding pairs.

You watch the crag from the Vía Verde de la Sierra, a 36 km greenway between Puerto Serrano and Olvera on the bed of a railway that never opened. The old Zaframagón station is now an interpretation centre and observatory: a camera hidden across the gorge, about 200 metres from the nests, sends live pictures to a screen inside. Egyptian vultures, Bonelli's eagles and eagle owls also use the cliffs.

Drive to the hamlet of Zaframagón, about 22 km by road from Olvera, and walk or cycle 2 km along the greenway, or start at the old Coripe station, 6 km away. The observatory opens daily and costs €2 for adults and €1 for under-12s and over-65s, cash only. The level railway bed suits families with children and cyclists; wheelchair users should check the surface with the foundation first.

Vultures soar most from late morning, once thermals rise. Bring binoculars, and in summer walk early, as there is little shade.

Peñón de Zaframagón in pictures

Grassy hills and scrub with the distant Peñón de Zaframagón crag on the horizon, Coripe

What you’ll find

Café or kioskFood and drinkBuy
Hiking trailHikingFree
ViewpointSightseeingFree
Visitor centreVisitor centre entry (€1–€2, 08:30–17:00)Ticket

Nearby places to visit

The observatory sits midway along the greenway: Coripe is about 6 km west and Olvera, with its castle and church above the town, about 11 km east. Coripe also has the Chaparro de la Vega, a huge holm oak protected as a natural monument. Garganta Verde (20 km), near Zahara de la Sierra, is a limestone canyon with another large vulture colony, reached by a permit-only path. In Villamartín, the Municipal Historical Museum of Villamartín (27 km) covers the town's past, and in Ronda the Unicaja Joaquín Peinado Museum (33 km) is devoted to the Ronda-born painter.