Walks Tenerife
1. Roques de Garcia
Walk for beginners, but a very nice one. The total distance is 6 km and is easy to do with children. Our daughter was 4.5 years old when we made this walk. The distance is not so long, but because you occasionally have to go over and along rocks, the walk takes quite a long time. The hike took us about 30 hours. There is also a part of the walk that you have to go down and then go up reasonably steeply again. From that "up point" my doughter Tess got tired and I was forced to carry her. She sat in my neck XNUMX min and that got heavy after a while.
You can park on the parking of the Parador or just along the way. There may be parked from the Parador to the beginning of the walk, at the "finger of God". We were actually on the way to the El Teide that day, but the lift was closed, because of the heavy wind at the top. Later we returned and were more fortunate.
One of the most beautiful walks on Tenerife
First we went to the toilet with the children and afterwards we walked to the viewpoint. The starting point of the hike is about 500 meters further and can easily be found because there are always many people going to see the "finger of God". The walk is also well signposted.
The weather was really perfect that day. In the beginning a bit fresh but after an hour we could take off our coat and then even our fleece. It was really a nice temperature, not too hot or too cold with a steel-blue sky and full sun. At the beginning of the walk, you follow a path on the right side of the overhanging rock (Roque Cinchado), which is marked with chains. There you will see a signpost indicating the direction with the distance of the walk.
Ucaca plain
Most people come to that point for the panoramic view of the Ucaca plain (Mirador de la Ruleta) and also to view the specially eroded rock. I saw the sign of the walk, but I had not seen that there was 6 km written on it. We started walking along the chains, assuming that there would be "something" in that direction. Because the environment is so beautiful and spectacular, we kept on going. We saw fewer and fewer people around us, but none of us wanted to return.
The cathedral
We still had a reception with our mobile phone, and it is there that we called grandmother and grandfather. You then follow a clearly marked path, usually bordered with stones, so we knew we were not lost. Occasionally you need to walk over flat stones or even over paved lava. After the first half an hour, a slight descent starts and after another 100 minutes you will arrive at the XNUMX meter high "cathedral". The high rock owes its name to its church tower-like shape and is actually a crater pipe.
The core consists of basalt and has an edge of lava rock. Once past the Cathedral, a fairly steep climb starts for about a half hour. You arrive at Mirador Llano de Ucanca viewpoint, and thus the beginning of the walk.
2. Arenas Negras
Here you walk around the 2346 meter high mountain "Arenas Negras" through beautifully landscaped paths of mostly gravel. On the 8 km long walk you sometimes imagine yourself on the moon. It is one of those special walks that stay with you. The starting point of this walk is on the other side of the car park of the visitor center "El Portillo" and runs in a circle around the Mantaña de las Negras. In the beginning you walk on a straight stretch to a junction, there you have to keep left. From there it goes uphill and you walk through a few bends on the northern slopes of the mountain.
You have a beautiful view of the green treetops of the planted forests. When we were there, there was a white trade mist over the hills. With the sun on it, that gave it a fabulous view. Even though the sun was shining and we did not need coats, there was still some snow in the shade.
Black moon landscape
In the distance we saw the white "globes" of the Observatory on the Montaña de Inzaña. We later made a guided visit there. After about 1u30 steps you walk between 2 mountains, with on the right the Montaña de las Arenas Negras and on the left the Montaña del Cerrillar. At the end of the path, in a southerly direction, there is a sign indicating that the road turns and goes back a bit to the north.
Then you come to a black moon landscape via a left-hand bend with a beautiful view of the El Teide in the distance. From here the path gradually goes downhill to even steeply down. To the right of the path there is a small deep gorge. Once back down, you arrive on a non-asphalted path that goes back to the junction at the beginning of the walk. At the junction you turn left and you come back to the parking lot. We did 3 hours, including a short picnic. Suitable for small children, but there is almost no shadow on the route.
Connecting walk
Afterwards you can take a walk around the Montaña del Alto. The mountain is actually a volcanic cone of 2152 high. The connecting short walk of 4 km starts and ends at the parking lot of El Portillo. There is a picnic area on your route.
3. Costa del Silencio
You can take several small walks along this beautiful stretch of coast. Starting from Palm-Mar we walked to the lighthouse "Faro de Rasca" and back. Parking is free on the south side of the village of Palm-Mar, just along the side of the street. The walk starts at the tower right on the rock coast and runs through nicely laid out gravel paths to the Rasca lighthouse. The coast is still partly untouched with unspoilt bays behind each corner.
Vegetation
The vegetation consists mainly of spurge, cacti and here and there a few tents with “free campers”. Unfortunately there is usually quite a bit of plastic and waste around these tents. I have also sometimes disturbed myself at the abandoned refrigerators and abandoned barracks. Most of those shacks are a bit remote. I wondered how they were able to drag all that stuff (there are sometimes 3 refrigerators together) to the coast. Most of the campers can be found between Callao Mandrácula and Punta Salema.
Faro de Rasca
The paths almost all run over the black lava rocks and along the coast with a beautiful view of the ocean. It is an easy walk and very suitable for small children. The distance from Palm-Mar to the lighthouse is 1.5 km and is therefore in total only 3 km. Behind every corner you see new tide pools. Eli wanted to stop at each pool to see if there were fish or crabs in. Occasionally we stopped to check that. We always have a bucket and landing net with us, when we walk along the coast. That way we get Eli to go hike with us more easily. Those retractable scoops that you can buy in the Decathlon are ideal because they fit better in a backpack.
And if we do not forget, we take a plastic bag to do around the landing net in the car. Once we arrived at Faro de Rasca we ate our picnic and we returned along the same road. It is a slightly hilly walk and leads through narrow rocky paths and gravel roads. It is a nice change on the higher mountain hikes on the El Teide.
Start a walk in Las Galletas
We took the walk to the still working lighthouse “Faro de Punta RascaFrom Las Galletas and is equally fun to do. The distance to the lighthouse is then a little further, namely 2.5 km one way. This walk runs through the nature reserve “Malpaís de Rasca” and completely along the coast.
This time we stayed in Los Gigantes, a beautiful quiet coastal town in the west of Tenerfe. Here you can find more information about what you can do and where we stayed. In Los Gigantes you have a beautiful black sand beach. It is a bit tucked away at the end of a shopping street near the harbor. It is one of them the most beautiful beaches in Tenerife.