Morata de Jalón (a.k.a. Chodes) – Zaragoza’s Main Event

We’d visited Zaragoza’s premier crag a couple of times before, in contrasting weather, bookending our 2017 winter trip.

Back on the Road – Morata de Jalon

Morata de Jalon – Las Torcas

Looking back, I was impressed by our efforts (not so much the standard of the climbing, but that we managed to squeeze in 4 routes AND drive 650km from Santander to Navajas in our first day off the ferry!) Also surprised that we hadn’t been back since (especially now it’s covered by Rockfax rather than a bit of scant web info and local banter 6 years ago). Over 400 routes, just 45mins from Calcena, and with slightly milder weather, a chilly forecast presented the ideal opportunity to reacquaint ourselves.

First impressions as you approach aren’t very favourable, with the small bustling town dominated by a huge cement works. However, there’s also a huge amount of rock to explore. The access is a little confusing, with climbing either side of the river Jalón, which can be accessed from the North from Chodes or from the south from Morata (the two towns / villages are almost contiguous) – in either case you’re in for a bumpy couple of km on reasonable dirt track, assisted by the occasional waymarker for zona de escalada, but without much help from Google, which doesn’t recognise the tracks (weird, given that elsewhere it’s entirely happy to try to send you across a ploughed field or GR footpath!) Here’s a bit of additional info to help you…

Overview showing approaches from town(s)

There’s a handy overnight parking spot here: Parking de Escalada Chodes
https://maps.app.goo.gl/N2FXj3cKjYgtNwmx6

The only drawback is that it’s a few hundred metres away from a railway track. The occasional train, every hour or so, would be fairly tolerable, but the sound of the warning siren at the level crossing is truly piercing. Fab spot otherwise… You can park even closer to Sector Pared del Tunel, and you are 2mins from the climbing.

Perhaps not surprisingly, given the ease of access, this area is a tad polished and baggy – fun conglomerate limestone routes.

Helen led Novedat, V+, and also did Victor and another new V+, before we decided we’d had the best of the weather, and went into recce mode.

You can access the crags on the east side of the river / railway from the same parking, but we decided to explore the driving route to Peña del Reloj. This involves looping back to the main road, driving over the river bridge into Morata de Jalón, and taking another twisting dirt road into the hinterland (easiest to skirt the town to the east, rather than run the gauntlet of narrow streets through the centre! – see map above). This takes you past a well appointed aire and albergue in town.

It’s a tortuous drive but you are rewarded by near roadside cragging – very well worth coming back on a future visit.