A walking holiday in Tenerife
There’s an astonishing variety of hikes on a surprisingly diverse island
A Tenerife walking holiday? Surely that means a pub crawl round the Playa de las Américas, or a stroll from the hotel breakfast bar to the beach?
Actually, no. Although Tenerife is known for its package holidays and large holiday resorts, being the largest of the Canary Islands it enjoys a surprising degree of diversity. Its north and south are distinctly different, the north being wetter, greener, less warm, notably less built up and more tranquil.
It has a number of microclimates throughout the island, which promote remarkable ecological diversity, and its geography varies widely too, from lush green mountains and stunning seascapes to harsh desert landscapes. It also has more than 1,500 km of trails.
I tried a hike in Teno Rural Park, which encompassed the ponds and wetlands of Erjos, the Cruz de Gala mountain, and the small mountain village of Masca. The 10km, four-and-a-half hour hike started with a walk along a track lined with colourful wild flowers, into the park. Climbing 200m to the top of a hill was rewarded with views of the deep blue sea beyond. One side of the hill was hot and sunny, but where I stood was pleasantly cool, with mists cascading by. The vegetation changed to expanses of pine trees, and the landscape became more and more barren, until there were just a few hardy trees and mountain plants fighting their way through the rocks.
At the top it was blustery and windy, the weather had changed radically from the sun and heat below at the start of the walk. As I walked down the other side of the hill, in just a matter of metres I was enclosed by closely packed trees. By now it had become really cold and made me realise you had to pack for a wide range of temperatures here.
On reaching a deep valley I could see Masca village in the distance, its terracotta tiled roofs nestled in the rocks, with the roads towards it twisting around the hill like ribbons. Tenerife expert, writer and resident Jack Montgomery reckons that Masca is not only the most beautiful village in Tenerife, but the most beautiful in the Canary Islands.
Until the 1970s, this area of Tenerife had little contact with the rest of the island, the local population moving only when necessary, and on foot. It meant that the locality has very much retained the traditional way of life based on agriculture and cattle, and that is adapted to the biodiversity and the climate of the territory.
The walk continued through a little avenue of purple thistle and for a moment I felt like I was in Scotland. But before long I was walking past palm trees and cacti. The variety, despite short distances, is continually surprising.
On my second day I tried a descent of Mount Teide, the huge volcano in the centre of the island. Mount Teide is active but, thankfully, dormant and last erupted in 1909. With an elevation of 3,718m, it is the third highest volcanic structure in the world. Okay, so this walk didn’t cover the whole extent of the volcano, I started about halfway up, at 2200m, and hiked down. However, for hardier hikers there was another walk available offering the option of reaching the top of Mount Teide, staying overnight in a hostel.
This walk could not have been more different from the day before, the landscape was almost lunar. Indeed, robots bound for the Moon and Mars have been tested in this barren, harsh landscape. Under a scorching hot sun and deep blue sky, the grey, brown and black lava rock around me was peppered with some hardy grey and pastel green mountain plants. It was exhilarating to walk here, although in places the air was thin and some people around me got slightly out of breath. The 13.8km walk lasted from 10am until 3pm but seemed to shoot by far more quickly.
The variety of walks and landscapes Tenerife offers really is out of this world.
Further information
https://www.webtenerife.co.uk/what-to-do/nature/hiking/
We did some great hikes on the nearby island of Gomera, too. Spectacular surroundings and well maintained trails.