Walking and Hiking in Tenerife

The island of Tenerife with its over 10,000 feet volcano provides a great diversity in the Walking / Hiking routes available. From the sometimes Snow covered Mount Teide, the warm lovely south coast, the rugged and wild north east coast to the climatic Pine forests allow hundreds of kilometres of paths and trails in these environments to be experienced. To walk many of these inland paths and trails, a car is essential, but many of the excellent coastal walks near your resort may be reached from your accommodation without a car or perhaps just a bus.

Latest Walks

Las Vegas Circular walk

An interesting and varied walk starting from the nice village of Las Vegas, crosses an open canal with running water, some rock houses and an old watermill.
A distance of approx 8.5km / 5.2 miles, total accent / decent is 350m/1150ft, time 3.5hours+

Google map of route: Las Vegas Eastern circular
Slideshow of walk: Las Vegas Circular Trail photos

GPS data for this walk can be found here: Tenerife Sur - Las Vegas Eastern circular

La Quinta to Barranco del Infierno walk

An interesting and varied walk starting from the nice village of La Quinta, easy trail to Boca de Paso with wonderful views then on to Barranco del Infierno with views of the "Calderón".
A circular route with a shorter option to return - a distance of approx 6 miles for longer route and 4.43 miles for the shorter route.

Google map of route: La Quinta circular walk
Slideshow of walk: La Quinta Trail photos

A short video can be found here: Barranco del Infierno video

Arico-Nuevo Circular Trail

A circular walk in a beautiful area with historical features and many plants.
A distance of approx 7.8km / 4.88 miles. Total ascent: 407m / 1336ft, Total descent: 400m / 1330ft

Google map of route: Arico-Nuevo circular walk
Slideshow of walk: Arico-Nuevo Trail photos

GPS data for this walk can be found here: Arico Nuevo circlular walk

Aldea Blanca to San Miguel Circular

Circular walk with many historic features.
A distance of approx 11.49km/7.2 miles. Total ascent / descent: 524m / 1720ft. Time: Approx 4-4.5 hours

Google map of route: Aldea Blanca to San Miguel circular walk
Slideshow of walk: Aldea Blanca to San Miguel Trail photos

GPS data for this walk can be found here: Aldea blanca circular trail

Barranco de Badajoz

A there and back walk with good views of the Barranco, many plants and water mines (Galeria's).
A distance of approx 3 miles.

Google map of route: Barranco de Badajoz walk
Slideshow of walk: Barranco de Badajoz photos

Ventanas de Güímar from the east

Approach from the east - from Camino las Coloradas with option for detour to Galeria "La Paloma.
A return distance of approx 9.4km/5.84 miles, total ascent / decent: 287m/942ft or 11km/6.84 miles and total ascent / decent: 616m/2021ft including Galeria "La Paloma".

Please refer to Ventanas de Güímar (Güímar windows) before undertaking this walk.

Google map of route: Ventanas de Guimar from the east
Slideshow of walk: Ventanas de Güímar photos

A short video can be found here: Ventanas de Güímar video

Area just to the east of Santiago del Teide and extending over towards Teide.

Excellent area with many trails. I have uploaded some of these trails to Wikiloc with many photos: 

Santuario Virgen to Canal de Vergara - shorter Circular Walk

A easy circular walk following the Canal de Vergara.

Santuario Virgen to Canal de Vergara - longer loop

A nice circular but longer walk following the Canal de Vergara.

Chinyero Loop from Santuario Virgen

A circular walk that crosses the Chinyero lava flow.

Over towards Erjos and Teno

Erjos loop along the ridge

A nice circular walk with good scenery.

Erjos Towards Teno PR-TF-51 / PR-TF-59

Magnificent Scenery but a long and hard walk.

Erjos to Teno along PR-TF 51

Some of the magnificent scenery but easier walk.

Short video of Erjos to Teno along PR-TF 51 (Oct 2021):

Canal above Torviscas Alto over to Adeje

Canal Intermedio near Adeje

An easy walk following a canal with good views of the Adeje coastline.

Paisaje Lunar - Updated with a longer 6 Mile circular route

Paisaje Lunar-Longer Loop

Ventanas de Güímar (Güímar windows)

A remarkable place – one of the world wonders created by the Canarian men. A canal built around and through mountain ravines at a height of 1000 metres above sea level to carry water from high in the mountains.
Through the mountain and along the ravines up to 10 tunnels were excavated to carry the canal.
Along the canal, the windows of the Güímar gallery were made to allow light to enter the tunnels and to throw away the remains of rocks and earth resulting from the excavation.
It is very odd that this water channel never came into operation, given how hard it must have been to build with pick and shovel.

I wouldn’t recommend this trail to people who suffer from claustrophobia or extreme fear of heights. Also, keep in mind that this is not an official trail and is not maintained. To put it simply, if you do this hike, you do it at your own risk and you are probably breaking Canarian law. If you are thinking of doing this walk then check out many of the websites that describe this trail.
Note: Headtorches are essential.

Example Websites are:

• Ventanas de Güímar - Tenerife- Hike
  
• Las Ventanas de Güimar – An Awesome Hike in Tenerife
  
• LAS VENTANAS DE GÜIMAR TUNNEL HIKE
  
• Excellent drone video of Ventanas De Güimar
  

Ventanas de Güímar: photo Album Trip: Nov 2021

Short video of Ventanas de Guimar (Oct 2021):

La Caleta towards Playa Paraiso

A very pleasant and easy walk with some nice scenery.
There are many options on this walk to extend or shorten your walk – like start further back along the coast – say Fanabe or complete the walk to Playa Paraiso and catch a bus back to Fanabe Plaza.
Our recommendation would be to walk to El Puertito and retrace your steps unless you want to catch busses.
The route:
Leave La Caleta and head towards Playa de los Morteros along the coastal track. Playa de los Morteros has some old rock houses and an easy track that leads to the beautiful Playa Diego Hernandez. A track overlooking this Playa leads to the small Barranco del Burro de los Curbelo with a short climb up to a disused plantation. The track goes around the plantation and drops into another small barranco (Barranco el Medio) with a short climb leading to the track to El Puertito. From the El Puertito peninsula there are lovely views of this fishing village and a path winds through the cottages to the boat ramp and beach. There is a nice Bar / Restaurant here for refreshment. If you decide to go on, then the path leads across the sea wall and up to the road. Immediately on reaching the road a track leads off towards and through the shanty town and eventually reaches the Bahia Principe complex. Here a coastal path around this complex leads to Barranco de las Salinas. A path down leads across with steps up to Av Adeje 300. You are now on the outskirts of Playa Paraiso. There is a bus stop on this road – catch the bus to Fanabe Plaza.

Photo Album Trip: Oct 2021

Malpais de Güimar

Head towards Puertito de Guimar and then take left turns to reach the end of Calle Marques de Santa Cruz where there is a car park, failing that just park in the town and head north along the coast.
An easy walk through “The Malpaís de Güímar Special Nature Reserve” ( a natural area located in the southeast of Tenerife), a distance of about 3.8 Miles as shown in blue on the route map. This route can be extended with tracks to El Socorro and around Montana Grande.
A very rugged area which contains much plant life and would be best seen in the spring and perhaps very early summer after some winter rains.
A circular route is shown following the coast northwards, passing some shanty houses and eventually reaching a climb over Montaña de la Mar offering good views of some of the reserve and coast. After a walk down and across and another up slope a junction is reached with a finger post. Here one can continue along the coast to El Socorro, but the route shown takes a left here and heads towards Montana Grande.
There are many plant species on the way including Balsam Spurge (Euphorbia balsamifera), Canary Islands Candle-Plant (Kleinia neriifolia) and of course the Cardon (Canary Island Spurge – Euphorbia canariensis).
Towards the base of Monta Grande a T junction is reached and a left turn here heads back towards Puertito de Guimar passing Mirador de las Morras del Corcho with nice views over the reserve. From here the track leads to another junction and keeping left here brings you back to the car park after passing another Information Board.

Photo Album Trip: Nov 2021

Volcán de Fasnia

An interesting walk to the black light absorbing Volcán de Fasnia on the Mount Teide Caldera. From the west ( Mt Teide) drive along the TF-21 towards the Teide Observatory (Observatorio Astronómico del Teide) and park in a layby on the left just before the right turn to the Observatory. The walk starts here and is circular around Montana de las Vacas for a distance of 5 miles and is easy going with good tracks. The track starts on the road for about 100 metres and at the junction with the Observatory road a track to your right here leads down towards the volcano. There are some nice views of Mt Teide as the very black Volcán de Fasnia approaches. There is an option before reaching the volcano to take a longer route (shown in blue on the route map), this adds and extra 3.67 miles to the walk. A Viewpoint is reached with a good information board. Some plants were observed on the way like the Pincushion Flower (Pterocephalus lasiospermus) but I suggest a spring visit would be best for flora. Further along a finger post is reached and here we take a right turn uphill towards Mirador del Corral del Niño - our return route. The track follows around Montana de las Vacas with some interesting rock / lava views and a Common Kestrel, ssp. Canariensis was also spotted on a few occasions. The Track then reaches the road (TF-21) but a track on the right leads back to the layby avoiding walking on the road.

Photo Album Trip: Oct 2021

El Médano to Montaña Pelada

An unusual and somewhat interesting walk with some different views. This circular walk is around 5.61 miles (9 km) long and starts at the Coast Car park – east side of El Médano and follows the coastline northwards crossing Playa de la Jaquita – busy with wind sports.
A coastal path can be followed around Arenas Del Mar and the villas and soon joins the track (Av Europa) slightly inland before crossing a small barranco to re-join the coast just before the front-line apartment block. The Path continues around the apartments and then heads off up the coast before reaching the very nice Playa Montaña Pelada or Ensenada del la Pelada (Pelada Cove). Here we take a track leading away from the sea crossing Barranquillo de la Gambuesa and eventually reaches a dry stream bed skirting around Montaña Pelada (Barranquillo de pelado).
This terrain has many interesting features and is bordered by a protected natural area. Eventually the stream bed joins a track at the Solar farm, this is followed upstream to a right turn to the Montaña Pelada information board. Here the track continues uphill to the rim of the crater where a walking track follows the circumference of the crater with a track along the middle as well. There are views of Puerto de Grandilla with its Oil Rig intended for off-shore but never used I believe and some of the energy park.
The return journey follows the same track to the end of the Solar Farm then keeps on the main track heading back towards El Médano until the crossing of a wider track. Here a left turn is made and soon an unusual very large Antenna is reached called the “Paella Pan”. This was abandoned after local residents objected to the construction of thermoelectric solar power plant. Soon the track reaches the main road to El Medano and a right turn leads back to the car park.

Photo Album Trip: Nov 2021

Coastal Walks

Los Cristianos to La Caleta (Geranium Walk)

The promenade extends for around ten kilometres, from Los Cristianos. Passing Playa de las Américas, San Eugenio, Puerto Colón, Playa del Duque and ending in the fishing village la Caleta. There are plenty of bars and restaurants along the way for re-fueling and watching the world go by.
The route back can be done by taxi for around 6 to 10 Euros depending where the taxi is taken from or even better catch the Titsa bus from La Caleta to Los Cristianos. The bus number is 467 with Destination: Costa Del Silencio and runs every 20 minutes at a cost of around 1.50 Euros.

Coastal Path from Amarillo Golf to Los Abrigos

From Amarillo Golf there is a constructed path that follows the beautiful rugged coast to Los Abrigos a distance of around 3.25 kilometres The route can be extended via unpaved tracks to El Medano, a further 6.30 kilometres. ( Try to keep off the BUSY main road from Los Abrigos to El Medano) This route passes the Red Mountain - Montaña Roja and the long sandy beaches near El Medano. On return why not catch the Titsa Bus from El Medano and drop off at Pueblo Primavera (near Golf Del Sur) then a short walk down the hill to Marina San Miguel. The bus number is 470, with Destination: Los Cristianos and runs every hour on the half hour at a cost of around 1.45 Euros.

Other Walks

Masca Valley to the Coast

The walk along the beautiful Masca Ravine starts from the hill village of Masca and follows down to the coast. The walk to the coast is around 2.5 Miles (4 km) and follows a unmarked track/s down the stream bed. Not difficult but be well prepared - Trekking/Walking poles useful, and boots giving ankle support advised. Due to the descent of around 2,400 feet to the coast, an option for this walk is to catch a taxi from Los Gigantes to Masca village ( to avoid driving the narrow hair raising road to Masca). Cost is around 23 to 27 euros. Walk the Ravine, and wait for a Water Taxi to take you back to Los Gigantes. You will need to pre-book the Water Taxi first thing before you leave Los Gigantes (Cost from 10 Euros). There are 3 taxis located at the marina - an early start is advised.

Masca Pick up - Water Taxi service with boats: Nashira Uno, GladiatorU and Punta Umbria
The maritima acantilados have 3 boats all located on the marina in Los Gigantes. They have two offices the first is located on the marina / beach road near the barrier and is open from 08:30 to 19:00 the other is opposite the big supermarket in the center of Los Gigantes open from 09:30 till 13:00.

Maritima Acantilados Prices:
Adults: 10 € Children (5-12 years) 5 €

Maritima Acantilados Address Main office:
Av. Maritima
Los Gigantes Marina
38683 Santiago del Teide
Tenerife

Maritima Acantilados Telephone Numbers:
Telephone: +34 922 861 918

Maritima Acantilados Email and Website:
Check out this link for one of the Water Taxi companies: Masca Water Taxi

Please check out the Masca review on Trip Advisor to acertain the walk itself and your suitability.
Masca Valley Review

Please note: the Masca Gorge is now open again to tourists.
However a permit is required to visit the Masca Gorge. Until the new jetty is built there are no boat transfers so a strenuous return trip up the valley is required.

Permits can be obtained from:Camino del barranco de Masca but numbers are very limited.

Hell's Canyon (Barranco del Infierno)

Recently re-opened, Barranco del Infierno is a nature reserve in the municipality of Adeje, in the island's southwest, whose more than 1,800 hectares (7 square miles) harbour one of Tenerife's most rugged natural landscapes. For just this reason, and for its quirks of topography, it has become a very popular hiking route. One of those quirks is the gorge which gives the reserve its name - a metres-deep cleft produced by millenia of water erosion. Other areas of the park worth visiting include the Rocks of Conde, of Imoque, and of Abinque. The vegetation here is another reason why this is one of the most beautiful spots on the island for nature-lovers.

Please visit this website for more information on this canyon. Barranco del Infierno Website

Paisaje Lunar near Vilaflor

A lovely walk to Lunar-hoodoo like structures through a pine forest. A circular walk starting from the off-road track, not to steep, it is uphill nearly all the way to the structures and then downhill back to the start. The climb is around 1,186 feet approx. a distance of around 4.13 Miles. Allow 3 to 5 hours depending on speed and fitness. Route is well waymarked.
Location: North of Villaflor, take unpaved track on the sharp bend (shown in blue), this is easily driveable and follow track for around 2 miles then find a place to park when you see the Waymarked posts.

For GPS information of walk visit: Paisaje-lunar

Erjos Pools

A lovely circular walk not too difficult passing the Erjos pools then up on to the ridge road before looping into the Laurel forests and finally a walk down from the ridge passing the pools once again and back to the start at Restaurante Fleytas where some nice beer (or tea) and cakes at the bar can be consumed. The Erjos pools have naturally formed in old quarry workings and provide a good habitat for birds and wildlife. Being situated in the Teno area to the west, low cloud and mist is very common, so pick a nice clear day to appreciate the lovely views of the Teno area and Mt Teide from the ridge.
The climb is around 850 feet approx. a distance of around 3.75 Miles (6km). Allow 2 to 3 hours depending on speed and fitness.

Location:

North of Santiago del Teide, park near Restaurante Fleytas.

For GPS information of walk visit: Charcas de Erjos Route

Chinyero Circular Walk

The last volcano to erupt in tenerife was Chinyero in 1909. The lava flowed westwards and stopped overlooking Santiago del Teide. This is a lovely circular walk around the volcano and crossing the lava field to the west. Its around a 3 hour walk including lunch stop, a distance of just over 4 miles and a 1000 ft ascent and decent.

Location:

See location Map - Purple Star.
Situated on the TF38, park at side of road at CP1 or CP2 on map. If parking at CP2 you can take the dotted track to avoid main road.

For GPS information of walk visit: Chinyero Route

Anaga Circular Walk

Nice if energetic walk through the Anaga mountains (Rain/Mist Forest). Its around a 4 - 5 hour walk including lunch stop, a distance of nearly 8 miles and a 3000 ft decent and ascent. Best on a sunny not misty day and at Chinamada it is well going to the Mirador - see blue dotted line on map. Nice Bar at Las Caboneras for well earned refreshment.

Location:

Situated on the TF12, park at Cruz de Carmen Car Park

For GPS information of walk visit: Cruz del Carmen - Las Carboneras - Chinamada Route