El Sabinar de La Dehesa

At the far western edge of El Hierro, in the area of La Dehesa, survives one of the most singular woodlands in the islands: El Sabinar. Here the junipers do not grow upright but leaning, twisted and sometimes almost lying flat against the ground, bent by a wind that blows without rest. Their silhouette has become one of the island's emblems, a landscape that seems drawn from a fairy tale and can be explored on an easy walk suitable for all ages.

It is a place of great natural and cultural value, so fragile that access to some specimens is restricted to protect them. The impossible shape of these trees is no accident: it is the imprint of the trade winds, which push and mould the junipers over centuries until they grow almost parallel to the earth. This grove is among the qualities that led UNESCO to declare the whole island a Biosphere Reserve.