HIKING IN THE TEIDE PARK

You will find the list of marked out hikes in the visitor centers. It is presented in the form of a small detailed booklet that you only have to ask for. The main hikes, from 1 to 21, are explained with different information: travel times, difficulty and main viewpoints. The secondary trails are only mentioned.

The park offers short hikes, free guided tours around El Portillo. Hikes start at the El Portillo Visitor Center and go to Siete Canadas (4-5 hours), Arenas Negras (2 hours) and Risco Verde (3 hours). Longer guided hikes are also available by reservation, the El Portillo - La Fortaleza round trip, the tour of the García Rocks, the ascent of the Guajara mountain and of Teide itself. Private agencies also organize guided group hikes.

Teide - Montaña Blanca - Pico Viejo. There are two options, the ascent by the Montaña Blanca (the most frequented, as the refuge is located on this path) or by the Pico Viejo (from the road leading to Chio). We advise you to spend two days on Teide if you have the time and the motivation: go up to the Altavista refuge in the afternoon at 3,411 meters via the Montaña Blanca path, sleep there and then the next morning climb to the summit in 1 hour and 30 minutes before sunrise at over 3,000 meters. We then climb in the freezing cold by the light of the flashlight (preferably headlamp), having taken care to locate the beginning of the path, by day. The shadow in perfect triangle of the Teide is drawn then on a sea of clouds, the experience is incredible. After the ascent of El Piton, make the descent via the mirador of Pico Viejo and the path of the same name, quite difficult (6 hours 30) and which joins the road that goes from El Chio to El Roque.

For the ascent by the Montaña Blanca, count 3 hours 30 of descent or 5 hours 30 of ascent. The first part of the ascent is relatively easy and takes place in a beautiful setting of arid plains and volcanoes. On the way, you will see the Eggs of Teide(Huevos del Teide), big black rounded or pointed blocks. They are volcanic bombs. Their dimensions reveal the violence of the eruption that projected them from the crater to the bottom of the slope. After a loop leading to a viewpoint, we leave the flat track of the montaña Blanca to take a narrower and especially steeper path that climbs up to the Teide: this slope is dominated by pumice of the same color as the montaña Blanca, invaded by large tongues of brown lava coming from the summit. The Guajara mountain gradually disappears behind the ridge. Halfway up the slope, we notice other black volcanic bombs, in the middle of a green forest of retama del Teide(Spartocytisus supranubius), this broom with white or pink flowers, characteristic of the Canaries. It takes 3 hours and a half of climbing to reach the Altavista refuge, and then we quickly reach the Fortaleza viewpoint. This last hike is less easy: it takes 7 hours to climb up or 5 hours and a half to descend, with a 1,500 m difference in altitude, which cannot be done without a special authorization and a guide from the national park. From the Fortaleza viewpoint you can enjoy a panoramic view of the eastern part of the island of Tenerife. And it is also an excellent place to feel the presence of the trade winds on the northern side of Tenerife. They contribute to the formation of a sea of clouds whose height limitation is due to a layer of dry winds that is superimposed on the layer of wet winds.

To climb Pico Viejo, it is necessary to count 7 hours 30 of ascent or 6 hours 30 of descent. The path starts from the viewpoint of Pico Viejo. We cross a chaotic field of brown blocks, following a random marking. We reach with relief the yellow sand edges of Pico Viejo, at 3,134 meters. It is an impressive crater by its dimensions, the width of its bottom, the verticality of its internal walls and the contrast of its colors: from yellow to black, passing by the red and the violet. Looking at the edges of the crater, we find the reassuring daisy of Teide. On the side of the fauna, the most attentive will perhaps notice traces of mouflon. On a clear day, you can see the islands of La Gomera, La Palma and El Hierro. Along the trail, you can see fumaroles and smell the sulfuric fumes.

We then descend to the Narices del Teide (Teide's nostrils), at 2,607 meters. This small crater of black and red stones and sand was born in 1798, letting out an enormous lava flow of small black stones, light and sharp, on which you slide more than you walk.
We then descend the slopes of the lava flow to the bottom of the caldera. At the bottom, large black obsidian blocks are similar to those found on the other side of Teide, on the Montaña Blanca. These volcanic bombs are surrounded by splinters detached from their carapace streaked like broken glass. The descent finally ends on a dirt road that comes from Boca de Tauce, from where your guide will call a park car.

Montaña Guajara. Culminating at 3,715 meters, south of Teide, the Guajara mountain is the highest point of the Las Cañadas wall. The ascent to this brown, massive and steep plateau with scree foothills is one of the most beautiful hikes in Tenerife to admire Teide. The trail starts just behind the Parador Hotel in El Roque. The red mineral chaos of the flows, planted with broom, and the gray face of Teide dominate the depressions of the cañadas.

Three paths go up the Guajara, one by the west pass, the second by the east pass, and the third, steeper and more direct, by the northeast face. Count on 2 hours to overcome the 500 meters of difference in altitude and obtain the promised view. The Teide is draped in black flows and surrounded by the Pico Viejo and the Montaña Blanca. The wall of the caldera stretches out in the distance, dominated by El Sombrero. At the bottom of the crater, we recognize the gray of the Ucanca plain, the green of Los Azulejos in the middle of which the tiny road winds, and the brown of the García rocks. On the other side, outside the caldera, we see the barrancos (ravines) of the southern coast, perhaps hidden by clouds; in the sky, the kestrel is never far away.

At the top of the Guajara, there are three possibilities: one can continue the hike down the outer slopes of Las Cañadas toward the sea, one can go over the eastern pass of the Guajara and descend southward to the moonscape and then Vilaflor (see the other hike), or one can return to the starting point by one of the three trails. Since the descent is quite short, you can safely opt for the longest path, the one from the eastern pass.

Finally, there are other alternative routes to mention that are not inferior to the main paths.

Paisaje lunar (5 hours round trip). On the outer side of the caldera, the lunar landscape is a set of white columns made of very fragile sand. It used to be possible to go there from the park, but the road was closed, and now it is necessary to go there and back from Vilaflor (5 hours) taking an easy path, through a sparse pine forest, to the tuff blocks to which erosion has given extraterrestrial shapes.

El Roque de Garcia (1 hour 30 minutes). This loop that starts from El Roque is very pleasant. The walk goes around the rocks to offer different and very changing views, then goes down to the cathedral before going back to the parking lot. It is a very beautiful walk. Don't be fooled by the crowd at the beginning, most tourists don't go more than 30 meters around El Roque. And afterwards, you will be much more relaxed. In the past, this trail continued up the side of Teide to the caves(cuevas) of Los Roques, but these are now closed to prevent visitors from disturbing the bats that live there.

La Fortaleza (2.5 hours round trip). From El Portillo, this hike offers a diversity of incredible landscapes. The highlight is the ascent to the Fortaleza, the last ramparts of Las Cañadas in the northern part of the island, from where you can see the northern slope, the Orotava River in its cloud bed. The way back is the same as on the way out.

Las 7 Cañadas (from 6:30 to 7:00). This trail leaves from El Roque - El Parador and arrives at El Portillo (or the other way around, depending on your preference). It goes along the wall of the Caldera, offers beautiful views and is not too difficult, as there are few differences in altitude. It is possible to leave the car in El Portillo in the morning, take the bus to El Roque and then walk.

In this chaos of stones formed by lava flows, the landscapes are very dry. Some plants grow there nevertheless. The rare Teide violet (Viola cheiranthifolia), hidden in the rocks, blooming in June on the slopes of Teide and the Guajara mountain. At the top of Teide and Pico Viejo, where there are sulphur deposits at 3,500 meters above sea level, we find the rare Teide daisy (Argyranthemum teneriffae), a white flower that is easily recognizable. On the lower slopes of the Montaña Blanca, you will notice numerous carpets of retama del Teide (Spartocytisus supranubus), an endemic species of broom with white or pink flowers.

The most characteristic species of Teide that you see on all postcards is the red taginaste (Echium wildprettii). This species, endemic to Las Cañadas and the peaks of La Palma, is easily recognizable, as the flowers of this plant are very large, elongated and pointed. They are red when in bloom in the spring, and white and dry the rest of the year, reduced to a skeleton by the sun.

The mouflon (Ovis musimon) is an animal that lives in Corsica and the Alps, and was introduced to Tenerife in 1975 for hunting. Unfortunately, the species soon proved to be a danger for the local vegetation of the high mountains. In the vicinity of Pico Viejo and on the northwestern slope of Teide, for example, you can see stems that have been severely damaged by the teeth of the mouflon. Having played the sorcerer's apprentice, the national park managers now want to eliminate the animal from Las Cañadas. The species is estimated at some five hundred individuals...