Centro de Visitantes El Dornajo

At the El Dornajo Visitor Center we represent the link between all the areas that make up Sierra Nevada. We are prepared to guide you about its urban and natural geography, its history, heritage, customs in disuse or those that still survive today and, especially about the animal and plant species that have found the perfect habitat here.

To do this we work in several blocks:

- With guided tours: the first of them takes place inside our facilities where you can take a look at the permanent exhibitions. Passing through our doors we will take tours of Dornajo, the botanical garden located in Hoya de Pedraza or La Cortejuela.

- With excursions through the spaces that make up Sierra Nevada: we will meet unavoidable events, such as the ascent of Mulhacén, or we will look at the plants and insects that live in peaks and valleys.

- With ornithological outings: aimed at observing the adaptation of birds to ecosystems that change depending on the altitude at which we are. We will complement them with workshops that will give us a more precise vision of all of them.

At the El Dornajo Visitor Center we welcome you from Wednesday to Sunday, from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., to enter the protected area of Sierra Nevada.

Our facilities aim to give you a tourist alternative since our visits escape traditional experiences, bringing us closer to our heritage through the characters that have marked the area's past.

The ethnographic tour that can be followed in the exhibition passes through areas of immense influence for the population such as agriculture, mining operations and different thermal and mineral waters. We make a stop to learn about the process to create the snowfields and we move forward in time following the route of the first tram that crossed the Sierra Nevada in the 19th century.

In addition to the guided tour that takes place inside the facilities, we leave from our doors to follow the Sulayr trail. This circular itinerary serves as a connection to the provinces of Granada and Almería from the mountains and we can visit it in any of the almost twenty stages that comprise it.

For those who wish, the El Dornajo Visitor Center has a cafeteria and Sierra Nevada souvenir shop, maps, books, guides, t-shirts, etc.

At the El Dornajo Visitor Center we develop various activity programs focused on knowledge of the natural environment of Sierra Nevada. According to this idea, we accompany you on expeditions to the most outstanding peaks of the province of Granada with excursions like these:

- Ascensions to Mulhacén: to see the highest peak within the peninsula. We will do it in groups of at least 10 people with whom we will take a peculiar route on foot until we reach our goal.

- Excursions focused on the endemic plants of the Sierra Nevada: the special conditions of this area have given rise to botanical species that have been forced to adapt to its altitude and climate. We will learn to identify the most representative ones such as the Sierra Nevada violet or the one we know as the snow star.

- Guided outings on the insects of the Sierra Nevada: just as the vegetation has specialized to remain between these peaks, the insects are accustomed to extreme temperature changes. They are part of a collection of around 270 species that we will explain during the adventure.