Sa Calobra
MA-2141 · Coll dels Reis (MA-10) → Port de sa Calobra · Spain (Mallorca)
- Length
- 8 miles
- Drive time
- 30 min
- Type
- Technical road
- Region
- Europe
Before you go: ⚠ Dead-end road — you drive it both ways; packed with coaches and cyclists mid-day
The 'Snake' of Mallorca: a 1930s masterpiece that corkscrews 800 m down to a hidden cove, famously looping under itself at the Nus de sa Corbata (the 'tie knot'). Go at dawn before the coaches, drive down, coffee at the cove, drive it again going up — the better direction.
A dead-end: Coll dels Reis on the MA-10 down the MA-2141 to Port de sa Calobra, then the same road back up. Eight miles, about 800 m of descent, continuous hairpins, and the Nus de sa Corbata — the 270° loop that passes under itself. The 1930s engineering is the point. Surface is good. Coaches and cyclists own the middle of the day. Going up is the better driving direction; you still have to go down first.
Dawn, before the coaches leave Palma. Drive down, coffee at the cove (Ses Taronges in season), drive up. Fuel on the MA-10 before you leave the coll — nothing on the descent. The tie-knot has a lay-by; do not stop on the bridge. Coll dels Reis is the top. Bar Coll dels Reis is seasonal and often shut in winter.
Pair it with Cap de Formentor if you are on Mallorca for the other famous dead-end, or with the MA-10 spine. Barcelona or Valencia to Palma is the crossing from the mainland.
The Snake is a nickname, not a warrant. One careful down-and-up is the drive; a third run in the coach window is just heat. Cyclists descend in groups and take the racing line through the tie-knot; you will meet them on the way up. The cove car park fills, then people park on the last hairpins. If you arrive after ten in July, you are in a queue, not on a driving road. Turn round at the coll if the first mile is already a coach procession — the MA-10 still has the day in it.
Highlights of the Sa Calobra
- Nus de sa Corbata 270° loop
- 800 m of continuous descent
- Cove café at the bottom
Where to stop on the Sa Calobra
- Coll dels Reis viewpoint — Summit of the dead-end MA-2141 — no fuel on the descent, so fill up on the MA-10.
- Nus de sa Corbata viewpoint — The 270° tie-knot loop — pull off only in a proper lay-by, not on the bridge.
- Bar Coll dels Reis café — Small roadside bar on the MA-2141 beside the tie-knot — seasonal, often shut in winter.
- Ses Taronges food — Independent cove restaurant by the Sa Calobra car park — open through summer 2026.
Drive the Sa Calobra
Open Sa Calobra on the map → ⬇ Download GPX
GPX works with Garmin, TomTom, Beeline and most bike sat-navs. Free, no sign-up — these are indicative waypoints, so follow the road signs, not the arrow.
Plot it, add it to a club run with a meeting point and pit stops, then share the whole trip as one link. Free, no account, works offline.
Route research: HunterMoss · More roads in Spain
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