Three short walks in Gran Canaria
Gran Canaria is a real walking island, you can take countless beautiful walks along the coast or in the mountains. The best time to go hiking is from March to June and after the summer again from September to November. According to the residents, it can get very hot in summer. During the winter months it can rain or even snow (above 1400m). Below you will find a description of three beautiful walks we took during our stay on Gran Canaria.
1. Hike to Roque Nublo (3km)
The popular walk is quite short, but it is also one of the most beautiful walks in Gran Canaria. Normally we wouldn't do this walk during the weekend, but because there wasn't enough wind to go windsurfing, we went on a Sunday. We had to park along the road (1577m), because the parking was already completely full at 11 am. At first we thought there were already a lot of people, but when we came back from Roque Nublo the road was full for 00 km on both sides. We thought this was the most beautiful hike, before the descent into the Bandama volcano Crater.
Quiet start among shady pines
The walk to Roque Nublo (1744m) and the frog starts across the parking lot along the GC-600 at Aparcamiento de la Degollada de La Goleta. The first part goes up slowly and windingly. After about 300 meters the rocky path gets a little steeper. The trail is easy to follow and sometimes leads through a shady spruce forest. On this first part you can enjoy a view of the valleys on both sides of the trail. At a certain point you will come to a fork, indicated by wooden arrows. To go to Roque Nublo, keep the path to the left. You can take various walks from the parking lot. They are well marked with colors on a board.
Spectacular last part...
The last and most spectacular part may be tricky for some people. The rocky path becomes increasingly difficult and sometimes turns into rocks. The temperature that day was around 22°C. In the summer, the walk will certainly be more difficult at this hour. Do not forget to bring enough water (min 1 liter per person). It seems to be mostly cloudy here, but we had a beautiful view that day. Once on top of the plateau leading to Roque Nublo, you have a 360° panoramic view.
Beautiful view of El Teide (Tenerife)
On the south you can see the dunes of Maspalomas in good weather and if you are really lucky in the west on Tenerife the top of El Teide (3715m). After a few minutes of walking you arrive at the massive monolith of 67m high. It is one of the most important landmarks in Gran Canaria. Even from the sea, when we rented a boat, we could see the rock well. To the left of it you see the frog rock. From the car park to here it normally takes about 40 minutes. Count on 20 minutes to Roque Nublo and 40 minutes to walk back quietly. There are parts of the walk that I would not recommend doing with smaller children. Certainly the last part of the path at Roque Nublo, which goes over and between the rocks, can be dangerous because of the steep precipices that are close to the “walking path”.
Looking for a toilet
Note: There is no toilet at the parking and there is no village nearby. We drove back through the other side and passed a camping and picnic area Llanos de La Pezo† There is a toilet at the picnic area, but it was closed at the time. The next option was restaurant Grill La Cumbre† We had a drink there on the terrace. We then drove on to the next picnic area and ate our sandwiches between the locals. On Sundays, the people of Gran Canaria come to parks and picnic areas for a BBQ or simply to spend a day with family.
2. Descent into the volcanic crater Caldera de Bandama (3.3km)
Spectacular walk that starts right next to the Tasca La Caldera restaurant and is well signposted with a brown sign “Bandama boiler† A bus (line 311) also stops there. We parked our rental car along the road (GC-802). The descent of the crater is number two of the most beautiful walks we took on Gran Canaria. Due to the difference in height of 270 meters, it is fast descending and climbing and it quickly becomes an intermediate walk. Note: The descent is not that bad, but small stones make the path slippery. I saw someone slip and fall.
This young volcanic crater is evidence of one of the last eruptions on Gran Canaria, about 1800 years ago.
Take a walk around the crater or descend?
Access to the starting point of the walk is via a wrought iron gate† Once through, you come to a plateau with a beautiful panoramic view of the entire crater (450m). People without a fear of heights can choose to walk around the crater completely (3.5km). You should not do any descents, but we chose to descend to the bottom (242m). After a few minutes on a paved path you come to the path with black small lava stones. The path leads to Mirador del Cornical (see first photo). From this vantage point you can have a good overview of the entire crater.
The smooth path winds down to “three stones”, some large boulders that have come down. After the boulders, turn left and you will come to the abandoned farm. You will also find an old wine press and a stable. A good place to pause is under the large shady eucalyptus tree, right by the wine press.
Don't go in the heat of the day!
The way back up is quite difficult (be sure to bring enough water!). It is best not to go back up in the middle of the day. There is little shade on the path (bring a hat). It took us about 25 minutes to get back to the iron gate. Because of the fresh wind in the beginning, we started the walk with a sweater, but you don't need it on a sunny day (very quickly). During the ascent this was only ballast!
Note: The gate closes at 17 pm (00 pm)
After the walk we went for lunch on the beach of Mogán. My son had seen some big fish swimming in the canal and wanted to try and catch one. Playa de Mogán we found one of the most beautiful beaches of Gran Canaria.
3. Walk to the pristine beach of Guayedra (5km)
The coastal walk starts at a roundabout on the access road to Puerto de las Nieves. You can easily park for free along the road. There is no parking provided (see map All the way at the bottom: “Three beautiful walks in Gran Canaria” to find the starting point). Past Casa Oaxaca take a sharp left and follow a rocky path up. The wide footpath leads to the busy main road GC-200 (180m altitude).
Hang in there along the busy road
Here the path runs for a while along the abyss behind the balustrade and next to the road itself. There are a lot of trucks that trump before every turn they take, so hang in there! After 5 to 10 minutes you will come to a staircase that descends to the beach of Guayedra† This is the part for which you are doing this walk. During the descent you have a beautiful view of the green mountains, the sea and the beach. A little further during the descent you can see the harbor Port of the Snows, which by the way has a beautiful pebble beach. The difference in height during the walk is about 350 meters. To walk from the beach back up to the road, it took about 35min. You should count a total of 2 hours for the walk. Due to the busy road and steep cliffs it is no walk to do with small children.
Other beautiful walks in Gran Canaria
I kind of regret that we didn't make more "effort" to take one or two extra walks. There are four of us and the kids are getting bigger. They prefer to spend more time by the pool or doing something else, such as horseback riding in the mountains above Maspalomas.
Pico de las Nieves (7km)
We would like to come back to take a walk from Llanos de la Pez at 1655m to Pico de las Nieves (1939m). This walk runs in a loop and you have one of the most beautiful views of the island at this height in clear weather.
The dunes of Maspalomas (10km)
The walk starts at the lighthouse of Maspalomas and follows the dunes along the coast to Playa del Inglés. There you turn left and the path turns into a high promenade with a view of the famous dunes of Gran Canaria. The walk continues Lagoon La Charca, a breeding ground for various seabirds.
The 10 most beautiful beaches of Gran Canaria
Here you will find a list with a map of the 10 most beautiful beaches in Gran Canaria
Read moreThree beautiful walks in Gran Canaria
Comments
If something is not clear or if you have a question or suggestion, please leave a message! If you just want to comment on the blog post, that's always nice too. Thanks in advance!
