In June 2021, Sierra de las Nieves was upgraded from a Parque Natural to a Parque National. This 18,350 hectare of, predominantly karstic limestone, is virtually uninhabited and is situated north of Marbella, southeast of Ronda and west of Coin in Malaga province.
The park is a land of contrasts. Within its boundaries you will find the deepest gorge in Andalucia, El Chorro, location of the famous Caminito del Rey walk, and mountains almost 2000 metres high such as Torrecilla.
The whole park has experienced little human interference to the landscape and has a huge variety of native flora such as pine, fir, ash, juniper, chestnut, wild olive and oak trees. The fauna includes mountain goat and a large horned wild sheep known as a mouflon, the ancestor of all modern domestic species. The mouflon was brought to Andalucia from its native eastern Turkey during the Neolithic period.