Built in 1972, El Atazar reservoir is the biggest reservoir of the Region of Madrid. It brought together some of the best lands of the municipality with the same name, from the known Molino de Riato until a road that connected it with the municipality of Cervera de Buitrago.

In El Atazar reservoir and its surroundings you can delight with the many roads and villas (El Atazar, El Berrueco, Cervera de Buitrago, Patones, Puentes Viejas y Robledillo de la Jara), as well as having fun practicing nautical sports like sailing, boat hire, wind surfing and, of course, fishing.

Let's Go For a Walk

One of the possibilities that we have is to take the backpack and the sandwich (even more than one), in order to go through one of the stretches of the Path of Genaro (characterized by blue paint in a man shape that appears in the rocks guiding us through the path), which surrounds El Atazar with 70 kilometers of circular itinerary. Many sidewalks depart from every municipality, which run over all the Northern Range of Madrid.

The adventurers have the possibility to practice sports like the parachuting, climbing or hose riding or even with a donkey!

If the visitor travels with family or he prefers a calmer plan enjoying the villas and the nature, you can visit the Territory-Museum created around the reservoir. It has 7 museums distributed among the different villages of the area. We suggest you to begin the tour in Cinco Villas, take a walk around the peaceful streets and breathe the fresh air of the Range.

We continue our itinerary in El Berrueco direction, where we find the Water and Hydraulic Heritage Museum. This museum will show us all the hydraulic facilities in the area and will help us to plan our day. We can also take a walk around its Old Town, where we can notice the importance of traditional elements carved on the stones.

We can also continue to El Atazar, the town that gives name to the reservoir. You can enjoy the traditional architecture with scattered buildings and with a Baroque Church of Santa Catalina. Here the nautical sports are commonly practised.

We will continue until Cervera de Buitrago, where we will have a new experience in the Senses Museum, created for teaching the deep nature of El Atazar and to experiment through your five senses. It is specially constructed for handicapped people.

If we want to go back to the past, our next stop is in the Way of Life from the Past Museum, located in the former tiles factory of Robledillo de la Jara, and will teach us the most ancient and traditional jobs of the area. In the Traditional Games Museum of Serrada de la Fuente we will discover popular games like the Horseshoe, the Pétanque and the Frog, as witnesses for future generations.

To end with our tour around this Territory-Museus we can go to the Forge Museum in Paredes de Buitrago. It recovers the traditional figure of the blacksmith and the forger, in a traditional environment. We can also go to the Stone Museum in Mangirón, where we will discover the importance of the blacksmithing and the stone in the area.

Before, we can walg through the beautiful town of Berzosa de Lozoya, in the hillside named "the Dead Woman" and surrounded by diverse nature.

If you want to get away from the wordly noise you have to go to Puentes Viejas. It is a municipality whose land is occupied by three reservoirs: El Atazar, El Villar and Puentes Viejas.

Where Can We Eat and Sleep?

If you want to make a stop in your journey and taste good food, you have many restaurants that conserve the mountainous tradition. The veal of the Guadarrama Range stands out and it has Denomination of Origin.

All towns have a great offering of rural accommodations, always respecting the environment, that will allow you to take a break from the stressing city.

Learn more: http://www.embalsedelatazar.es/tourism/ Sierra Norte de Madrid