Hiking routes

Teide National Park

Cuevas de Ajuy (Monumento Natural de Ajuy)

Sea caves and a black-sand beach after a short coastal path.

Área Recreativa Presa de las Niñas

A Cabildo recreation and camping area beside the Las Niñas reservoir in Tejeda, inside the Nublo Rural Park, with pine woods, walking trails and barbecue spots.

Finca de Osorio

A 204-hectare public estate of the Cabildo in Teror, inside the Doramas Rural Park, with laurel forest, educational trails and visits by prior permit.

Parque Natural de Tamadaba

A 7,538-hectare Natural Park in north-west Gran Canaria, spanning Artenara, Agaete and La Aldea, protecting one of the island's best preserved natural pine forests.

Merenderos Barranco De Los Cernícalos

The Barranco de los Cernícalos in Valsequillo is one of the few watercourses on Gran Canaria that runs all year round. One of the island's best wild olive woods grows on its slopes and a willow grove thrives on the bed; the water comes channelled down from the summits and forms small waterfalls. The name comes from the kestrel, the bird of prey that nests in the ravine. The picnic area marks the start of the easiest walk, about three kilometres long.

Chorros de Épina

A natural spring with seven heather-wood spouts in the laurel forest of north-west La Gomera, beside the hamlet of Épina and the start of several walking routes.

Área Recreativa de la Laguna de Valleseco

A former seasonal lagoon among chestnut trees, with trails, barbecue picnic areas, a playground and a viewpoint; dogs allowed.

Caldera de Los Marteles

Volcanic crater on the Gran Canaria summit, its farmed floor visible in full from the rim beside the road.

Barranco del Infierno

Guided trail through a protected nature reserve in Adeje, with mandatory helmet and limited daily access.

Candelaria

Buenavista Golf

Presa de Las Peñitas

The Las Peñitas dam blocks the ravine of the same name in the municipality of Betancuria, inside the protected Parque Rural de Betancuria. It was built in 1937 and is now completely silted up, so it no longer holds a permanent reservoir. The approach is on foot along the local SL FV 27 trail from Vega de Río Palmas, which follows the ravine bed among Canary palms and tamarisks into a narrow granite gorge.

Sendero Las Aguas - La Rambla

A kilometre and a half of earth and stone track along the coastal shelf of San Juan de la Rambla, linking the seaside hamlet of Las Aguas with the Rosario neighbourhood. It takes about an hour, the difficulty is low, and the whole route behaves like one long viewpoint over the water. Along the way there are terraces of potatoes and bananas, tamarisks, reed beds, agaves and the small Callados beach.

Los Nateros

Los Nateros is a farming and recreational area in La Matanza de Acentejo, on the mid slopes of northern Tenerife at around 635 metres. Its name comes from the stone walls that hold back soil and water on the hillside, a practice that has slowly made this ground fertile. Several footpaths set off among terraced vines, chestnut trees and pine woods, and the town council has laid out fitness circuits, a small square and a play area.

Sendero Montaña Blanca - Pico del Teide (PNT 07)

Trail number 7 of Teide National Park, running from the foot of Montaña Blanca up to La Rambleta: 8.3 kilometres of high difficulty with 1,194 metres of cumulative ascent.

Paisaje Protegido del Barranco de Las Angustias

Protected landscape that forms the only natural outlet of the Caldera de Taburiente, a deep ravine of vertical walls reaching the coast.

Refugio del Pilar

Recreational area amid Canary pine forest on the Cumbre Vieja, the classic starting point of the Volcano Route on La Palma.

Sendero Siete Cañadas

Classic signposted trail crossing the floor of the Teide caldera, from El Portillo, among pines, brooms and vast lava flows.

Camino de los Gracioseros (Risco de Famara)

Old shepherds' path that zigzags down the towering Risco de Famara cliff, in Teguise, to the Río salt pans, with La Graciosa always in view.

Parque Cultural La Zarza y La Zarcita

Archaeological park in northern La Palma, in Garafía, with rock engravings of the ancient Benahoarita people and an interpretive trail winding through laurel forest.

Montaña Guajara

A 2,715 m summit in Teide National Park, the third-highest in the Canaries, with a classic circular route from the Parador in La Orotava. A demanding high-mountain climb.

Barranco de Azuaje

Nature reserve between Firgas and Moya in northern Gran Canaria, with a lush ravine and a classic trail along the riverbed. Uneven terrain; proper footwear is advisable.

Volcán de Tajogaite

A La Palma volcano born in the 2021 Cumbre Vieja eruption, near El Paso, now one of the island's leading hiking and geotourism destinations.

Rambla de Castro

A 45-hectare Protected Landscape on the coast of Los Realejos, Tenerife, crossed by a walking path past Canary palm groves, dragon trees and historic buildings.

Barranco de las Vacas

Short ravine of eroded tuff walls resembling the canyons of the American West.

Cubo de la Galga

Trail through the laurel forest of northeastern La Palma, with a viewpoint and a shady humid woodland.

Sendero Agua García

Circular trail through the Agua Garcia woodland in Tacoronte, amid laurel forest and chestnut trees.

Sendero de los Sentidos

Network of short, accessible trails through the Anaga laurel forest, designed to discover the woodland with the senses.

Madre de Agua

Natural water spring in Los Realejos, on the green northern coast of Tenerife.

Ruta de Los Almendros

The Ruta de Los Almendros crosses the uplands of Santiago del Teide between almond groves and volcanic lava flows, and is walked from late January to March, when the almond trees are in blossom. The classic line starts at the church square of Santiago del Teide, passes through Las Manchas and ends in Arguayo, covering some nine kilometres of moderate difficulty in three to four hours. A shorter variant sets off from the Calvario de los Baldíos.

Caldera de Gayria

The Caldera de Gayria, also written Gairía, is a volcanic cone in the interior of Fuerteventura, between the municipalities of Antigua and Tuineje and just east of the village of Tiscamanita. It rises some 170 metres above the plain and reaches 461 metres above sea level, keeping a well preserved crater that can be picked out from across the central part of the island. The climb is short but awkward, over loose lapilli and with no shade at all.

Boca del Paso

Boca del Paso is a natural balcony in the uplands of Adeje, at a little over 930 metres, looking straight into the head of the Barranco de las Torres. It is reached on foot along the waymarked PR-TF 71 trail, the Camino de Teresme, with the usual starting points at the hamlet of La Quinta, the old town of Adeje and Ifonche. The ground is stony and very exposed to the sun, with almost no shade along the way.

Sendero Cuevas Negras - Los Silos

The PR-TF 53 drops from Erjos down to Los Silos through the Teno Rural Park: 5.7 kilometres, around three hours, intermediate difficulty. It starts close to 1,000 metres and ends at 105, so it is more than nine hundred metres of almost continuous descent along the old royal road, through the laurel forest of Monte del Agua and the Cuevas Negras ravine. No permit is required to walk it.

Sendero Jardina

The Jardina path climbs the northeastern edge of La Laguna, at the point where the farmed Aguere valley gives way to the Anaga Rural Park, a Unesco biosphere reserve since 2015. It runs past vegetable plots, eucalyptus and pockets of laurel forest, with the town spread out behind you. The walking is easy and needs no mountain experience. Parking at the entrance is limited and fills up quickly at weekends.

Área recreativa, Monte Pavón

High on the northwestern ridge of Gran Canaria, at around 1,200 metres, this recreation area sits in young replanted pinewood, between grazing land and steep damp ravines that still hold the last patches of laurel forest. It makes a practical starting point for the S-01 trail, thirteen kilometres linking Cruz de Tejeda with Pinos de Gáldar and Saucillo. No advance booking is needed to use it.

Camino Natural de Fuerteventura

A long distance path that crosses Fuerteventura from north to south, waymarked as the GR 131 and part of the Spanish network of nature trails. It runs for roughly one hundred and sixty kilometres in nine stages, from the islet of Lobos and Corralejo down to Pájara and Punta de Jandía. This point marks the section at Vega de Río Palmas, among the eroded inland hills of Betancuria.

El Agujero (Los Gigantes)

El Agujero is a mountain route in the municipality of Santiago del Teide that climbs to the ridge crowning the Los Gigantes cliffs, on the west coast of Tenerife. The name refers to a natural opening in the rock that can be seen from several points along the way. Most walkers set off from the village of Tamaimo and link dirt tracks with stony paths up to the crest. The walk covers close to nine kilometres and gains over five hundred metres.

Ventana del Nublo

The Ventana del Nublo is a natural rock formation shaped like a window opened in the stone, in the central massif of Gran Canaria. Its interest lies in what it frames: through it you see the Roque Nublo and, on clear days, Mount Teide across the sea. It sits inside the Parque Rural del Nublo, and the usual route to reach it starts from the Los Llanos de la Pez recreation area, in the municipality of San Bartolomé de Tirajana.

Sendero Las Charcas De Erjos

The Erjos ponds are one of the few wetlands on Tenerife, occupying former earth and aggregate pits worked in the 1970s and 1980s between the municipalities of El Tanque, Los Silos and Buenavista del Norte. Once they began to fill in the rainy season they became a key spot for birds, which use them to feed, rest and breed. The circular trail that runs past them crosses laurel forest and opens views towards Mount Teide.

Presa de Ayagaures

The Ayagaures dam holds back the ravine of the same name in the interior of San Bartolomé de Tirajana, inside the Gran Canaria Biosphere Reserve. The place name is of indigenous origin and means the place between two mountains, which is exactly what you see on arrival: a sheet of water wedged between two pine-covered slopes. You can drive up, although walking in from the hamlet is the better approach, and several hiking routes set off from the reservoir itself.

Sendero Monte del Agua (Erjos - Las Portelas)

A 10.7 kilometre trail between Erjos and Las Portelas, of medium difficulty and around three hours' walking. Almost the whole route follows a forest track through the laurel forest and fayal brezal of Monte del Agua, in north west Tenerife. It is one of the areas where the endemic pigeons of the laurel woodland can be seen. The route is linear, so the way back to the starting point has to be sorted out.

Reserva Natural Especial de Los Tilos de Moya

Special nature reserve in Moya, in the north of Gran Canaria, protecting the last continuous laurel forest on the island, a remnant of the old Selva de Doramas.

Parque Natural de Pilancones

Pine forest nature park of nearly 5,800 hectares in the southern mountains of Gran Canaria, in the municipality of San Bartolomé de Tirajana.

Parque Rural de Doramas

Protected laurel forest and ravines in northern Gran Canaria, with marked hiking trails and regular birdwatching.

PR FV 9 Tindaya - Vallebrón - Tefía

Long crossing trail through inland La Oliva linking Tindaya, Vallebrón and Tefía across arid ridges and rural hamlets.

El Cedro - Ermita de Nuestra Señora de Lourdes

Trail through the El Cedro laurel forest in Garajonay to the chapel of Nuestra Señora de Lourdes beside the woodland stream.

PR-LP 6 Marcos y Cordero - Los Tilos

Trail to the Marcos y Cordero springs that passes through thirteen tunnels carved into the rock down to the Los Tilos forest.

Gran Ruta 18 - Circular Garajonay

Long crossing of around 16 km through Garajonay National Park traversing every ecosystem of La Gomera's laurel forest.

PR-TF 10 Cruz del Carmen - Punta del Hidalgo

Classic Anaga crossing descending from the Monteverde forest at Cruz del Carmen to the coast at Punta del Hidalgo via Chinamada.

S-51 Llanos de la Pez - Pico de las Nieves - Degollada de Los Hornos

Circular summit route in Gran Canaria linking Llanos de la Pez with Pico de las Nieves and the Degollada de Los Hornos.

PR-TF 6.3 Benijo - Cruz del Draguillo

Mountain trail in the Anaga Massif climbing from Benijo through dragon trees, laurel forest and lookouts over the Roques de Anaga.

Cascada de los Tilos

A waterfall at the end of a short, easy trail through laurel-forest tunnels, in the Los Tilos Biosphere Reserve (San Andrés y Sauces). One of La Palma's most popular walks.

Peñas del Chache (highest point trail)

The highest point of Lanzarote, 670 m up on the Risco de Famara, reached on foot with panoramic views of Famara and the Chinijo archipelago.

Sendero Paisaje Lunar (PR-TF 72)

Circular route from Vilaflor through Canary pine forest to the Paisaje Lunar, a cluster of eroded cones that look like another planet. A demanding trail.

Chinamada y Mirador de Aguaide

A hamlet of cave houses deep in the Anaga massif and one of Tenerife's most admired hikes, with dizzying viewpoints over the coast.

Barranco de Guayadeque (rutas y hábitats trogloditas)

An 11 km ravine declared a Natural Monument in Gran Canaria, with inhabited cave houses, rich wildlife and the island's densest concentration of pre-Hispanic sites.

Barranco de los Cernícalos (SL-03)

Trail through a ravine with a permanent stream and small waterfalls, one of Gran Canaria's few stable watercourses.

Barranco de los Enamorados (PR-FV 1)

Trail through a ravine of pale sandstone walls and eroded shapes in northern Fuerteventura.

Sendero Bayuyo (volcanes de Lajares)

Circular route among the volcanic cones of the Bayuyo alignment in the island's north, with views of Lobos and Lanzarote.