I originally wanted my son to get his first ski lesson here but the friends we were traveling with…read moredid not want to ski, so we settled on sledding, and I was able to find that the Hoya de la Mora area, super high up, at 2500 meters altitude, offers free sledding.
I researched where to get sleds and there is supposedly a sled rental guy right near the hill, and from my research his sleds are €15/hr, though you can rent them in Granada for €19/day. However, there are also vendors walking the roadside along the mountain selling toboggan style sleds for €30, or very low quality butt-saucer "sleds" for €5. Because we were there on Easter, the Granada rental place was closed, as was the road to Hoya de la Mora, and because Amazon was a week late and failed to get my snow tubes to me before my flight, we ended up with the €5 butt-saucer that broke after 5 slides down the hill. Luckily our friends had one of the toboggan sleds borrowed from their Spanish neighbors.
Despite all the glitches, we made it to 2300 meters altitude, above the tree line, at the same height as the slopes.
It was hot from sun, cold from snow, and there was the usual blinding reflection of sun off white surface that required sunglasses. The day was beautiful and comfortable despite the sun/snow contrast. A lot of Spanish families were out enjoying the mountain, and no religiosity was to be seen on Easter Sunday.
We walked into the resort town area and I was surprised at all the litter along the paths and streets. There was also a lot of dirty snow just pushed here or there, not very attractively or thoughtfully managed. It was odd next to 5-star hotels. Any stay I've had at 5-star hotels, they didn't look like that outside. That said, I do like the Spanish lack of pomp and circumstance and unwillingness to pander to attracting certain people with a curated image.
It's free to drive up the mountain. Parking is free in certain spots and paid in others. Despite all my research, their random road closure was completely unannounced and there were even signs along the road saying Hoya de la Mora was abierto. The random closure forced everyone to stop at 2300m at a parking lot with broken meters.
I was phobic about the altitude. I'd been to Denver, CO as a kid (the "mile high city" is a mere 1609m), and hiked the Alps, visited Chamonix (only 1035m) etc. but nothing nearly as high as the 2500m Sierra Nevadas. Just this trip we visited El Torcal (1200m) and stayed at Parador de Cazorla (1400m) where I definitely had altitude sickness. Still, we didn't get to the tree line any of those other places until we hit the caps of Sierra Nevada which are bald!
It may be that in our 4h visit we didn't stay long enough on the mountain for altitude to affect us. It may be that after all our recent mountain experiences we were acclimated. Luckily, we didn't have any altitude effects whatsoever and neither did our friends. We only made it to 2300m, but high enough to have had an effect!
The drive is simple and straightforward. Signage is clear though not accurate with Hoya de la Mora in our experience. There are a number of snow activity options even into May. You can spend as much or as little as you want with offerings of free hiking, sled hills, and jogging/cycling the roads.
I was interested in trying to take the kids to nearby Fuente del Mirlo Blanco activity park in Pradollano, but there were conflicting reports of it being closed for maintenance or closed for the season, etc. so it's on my list for the future. For those unaware, Mirlo Blanco is a winter amusement park with various rides including a toboggan rollercoaster.
