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.
Ayagaures is one of Gran Canaria's landmark reservoirs and the heart of a scattered hamlet in the mountainous interior of San Bartolomé de Tirajana, far from the municipality's tourist coastline. The water is held between two slopes of Canary pine, and that boxed-in setting is what gave the place its name in the language of the old Canarians.
Routes of varying difficulty start at the dam. One climbs through the ravines with sharp height gains on earth tracks that are not technically demanding and loops back to the start; another links Ayagaures with Tunte, the municipal capital, over a little more than twelve kilometres. The whole area forms part of the Biosphere Reserve, and the San Bartolomé de Tirajana tourist office advises on trail conditions before you set out.
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