Southeastern Madrid Forest Parks, Anillo Verde Cycle Path, Almodóvar Hill

In the south and eastern parts of Madrid, there’s an extensive series of forest parks that form a nearly continuous linear park. These parks in the Entrevías, Pavones, Palomeras, and Vicálvaro districts of Madrid can be run standalone or combined in various ways.

Parque Forestal de Entrevías to Parque de la Cuña Verde de O’Donnell. Located just east of the Manzanares Linear Park and the A4, this lovely park features paths through nicely interspersed pines, cypresses & cedars. A loop of the park’s paths is ~6 km.

You can also continue do a longer linear park run of up to 12 km one-way. Starting from the connector at Manzanares Linear Park, run for 2 km on the Anillo Verde Cycle Path, which is a firm sand surface, through Parque Forestal. Contiue for another 3.5 km north on the cycle path through the Parque Lineal Palmeras. Cross the A-2, continuing for 2 km to the rotary at the Centro Deportivo sports center. From there, it’s a scenic 3 km on park paths (not the cycle path) west through Parque Forestal de Fuente Carrantona & Parque de la Cuña Verde de O’Donnell — an urban park with cycle lanes, multiple outdoor auditoriums, and sports facilities.

Spur Paths. There are two good spurs from the C. Vicálvaro rotary.

• Eastern Spur. This goes for 4 km east, through the Centro Deportivo Municipal Margot Moles, which features a great running track, and then through Parque Forestal de Vicálvaro, which is fairly open but has some nice trees.
• Spur to Almodóvar Hill. This 4 km spur follows paths passing soccer fields into Parque Valdenernardo, and then, skirting the zoo, into Almodóvar Park (named after the famed Spanish film director), with a great 100m climb to a lookout on Almodóvar Hill. This is a dry, more open park — different than the other, more forested parks nearby.