Mirador de La Corona

Mirador de La Corona sits above the village of Icod el Alto, in the municipality of Los Realejos, on the northern slope of Tenerife. The island tourism board describes it as one of the most spectacular viewpoints on Tenerife: from the railing the eye takes in the entire Orotava Valley and the fertile strip of the north western coast, with its patchwork of banana plantations, farmland and scattered hamlets running down to the sea. The approach is by car from the TF-42 road and there is parking beside the viewpoint itself, but there is no bus stop, so public transport is not a practical way to get here.

The site is well known among paragliding pilots, who use it as a launch area thanks to the air currents rising along the slope; it is sensible to stay clear of the take off zone when flights are under way. The platform is an open air balcony with no interpretation panels, so visitors who want background on the landscape should bring it with them. Access for people with reduced mobility is possible but awkward. The UTM coordinates are 0343194/3140170. Several other viewpoints follow one another along the same stretch of hillside, among them El Lance, La Grimona, San Pedro and Mataznos, which makes it easy to string a number of panoramic stops into one drive.