# Sunday on Abantos: Pine Forest, the Malagón Pass and a Mountain Table

A mid-morning climb through the pine forest behind the monastery, lunch in a 1918 forestry house turned restaurant and a stroll round the Jardín de los Frailes.

Fuente: https://www.geocalia.com/en/spain/community-of-madrid/san-lorenzo-de-el-escorial/itineraries/abantos-pine-forest-and-mountain-lunch · Revisado: 2026-11-12

## El día
- 08:30 · Salida: 45 min by car (via the A-6 and the M-505)
- 09:30 · Climb through the Abantos pine forest to the Malagón pass (9.5 km via the Romeral dam and the drovers' track)
  - 8 min on foot
- 14:00 · Horizontal Restaurant (grill and game · €€€ · booking required) · Horizontal Restaurant, €€€
  - 15 min on foot
- 16:30 · Friars' Garden and its viewpoint (short walk back in the village)
- 17:30 · Vuelta (You reach Madrid around 18:30)

Behind the monastery there is a whole mountain. This plan climbs it through the pine forest that the forestry engineers replanted at the end of the 19th century, reaches the Malagón pass, on the border with Segovia, and goes down to lunch at a forestry house that has been a restaurant for more than a hundred years.

## The Day, Hour by Hour

8:30 · Departure. From Madrid, about 50 minutes along the A-6 and M-505. Park in the upper part of the village, towards the Romeral dam.

9:30 · Abantos pine forest. The municipal route starts next to the wall of the Romeral dam, passes the Casa Rústica viewpoint, the Fuente de la Teja park and the springs of the stream, and climbs along the Cañada Real Leonesa drovers' track to the San Juan de Malagón pass. It is about 9.5 km of medium difficulty, almost all uphill on the way out, with stretches of the GR-10.

14:00 · Lunch at El Horizontal. On the way down, at more than 1,100 metres in the forest, the former forestry house at the Fuente de la Salud. Grilled meats, game and seasonal cooking, with a terrace under the pines. On Sundays it is open from 10:00 to 20:00. If you left the car at the dam, you drive up in a few minutes along the forest road.

16:30 · Jardín de los Frailes. Back in the village, the viewpoint over the monastery's gardens.

17:30 · Return.

## With a Dog

The route goes through public forest and a drovers' track: the dog can come, on a lead, because there is livestock. It is not allowed in the monastery.

## Cómo llegar

### By car
A-6 and M-505. The car takes you up to El Horizontal without repeating the climb.

### Without a car
Buses 661 and 664 from Moncloa. The route starts on foot from the village; for the restaurant, allow for a walk up or a taxi.

## Consejos

### Set off early in summer
The climb is in the sun in several stretches.

### Bring a warm layer
At the Malagón pass the wind blows and it is several degrees colder than at the Lonja.

### Book the terrace
It is the first thing to fill up on Sundays.

## Preguntas frecuentes

### Is it a hard route?
Medium difficulty: 9.5 km with continuous climbing on the way out.

### Can I take a dog?
Yes, on a lead.

### Is El Horizontal open on Sundays?
Yes, from 10:00 to 20:00.

### What if it rains?
Swap the route for the monastery and keep the lunch.