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A circular walk from Santiago del Teide, Tenerife
Near the beginning of the walk on the path towards the Degollada de la Mesa
My friends and I decided to do this walk last Wednesday as it combined a lot of paths we knew in a different way, involved a link we were not familiar with and a recently cleared path back to Santiago del Teide we had never used. It turned out a varied and pleasant walk which we all enjoyed.
Sea squill (Drimia maritima)
We parked opposite the barbeque park just beyond the church in Santiago del Teide and walked along the main road towards Erjos past the turning to Valle de Arriba and up to the next bend where the footpath starts. This footpath has a sign either end saying it is temporarily closed. However, it is a good clear path and in better state than many we know that are open. There is, however, near the signpost that ends our use of it, a short section which is steep, with loose stones, that could be slippery in damp weather, especially when coming down. We have never found it a problem going up.
The view to Teide from near the junction with the track
The path passes a group of Eucalyptus trees on the left at the beginning but as it climbs the left hand side is open and there are pines on the right, enabling excellent views back down towards Santiago del Teide. The open area was affected by the fire in 2007 but is now repopulated with mixed shrubs. On the path we passed a Sea squill (Drimia maritima) in flower. Its name is inappropriate for where it grows in Tenerife, which is in the mountains rather than near the sea but even its spanish name, Cebolla maritima, which translates as Sea onion, gives it a connection to the sea. It is a bulb whose leaves appear earlier in the year, then they die back when the flower is produced in late summer. This year seems to be a good year for the flowers, I don’t think I have seen so many in previous years.
Burnt forest seen from the track around Mt Gala
e reached a signpost where our path, which continues up to the Degollada de la Mesa, meets the end of a track. We turned right onto the track which winds its way, roughly on the level, around Mt Gala with its fire watchtower and communications masts. Here we started to see signs of the recent fire in the area, with some areas where the trees were brown and the ground was covered by ash from the burnt pine needle carpet. These trees will recover quite quickly after rain, as the fire has rushed through and not burned intensely around them.
Looking up at Mt Gala from its access road, with its fire scars.
The track rises gently to a ridge where it meets the access road for the Mt Gala installations, which we crossed to descend towards the Erjos lakes. At the moment only one has a little water in it, unlike two winters ago when we counted seven lakes filled with water. The slope we walked down was badly burned in the recent fire, although even there a small patch of laurels had survived in a dip on the way down.
Looking towards Erjos and the lakes from near the ridge, across the slopes burnt in the recent fire
It was noticeable as we continued that the only green on the burnt areas was the regrowth of brambles and bracken from their roots. How resilient they are!
Passing the lakes, we turned right where the waymarked path we had been following went left. Shortly afterwards we went left up a track which zig-zags up to the main road near the Restaurant Fleytas. A short walk along the road, passing the restaurant on our left we approached a house just past the junction with the road going to San Jose de los Llanos, and turned left immediately before it to join a concrete farm road which dips down into the valley and up the other side. This avoids walking on the road to San Jose which you can use if you prefer. The concrete road joins the San Jose road just before the roundabout where the new Eco museum entrance will be. The buildings there seem to have been completed, and the car park areas constructed and landscaped, but there is no sign yet of it opening. Perhaps the present economic situation is the cause of the delay.
Half-spotted stink bug (Graphosuma semipunctata) on a fennel head. They are very common on them this year.
From the roundabout we took the track signposted as the way to the Rural hotel. We also joined one of the footpaths in the PR-TF 43 complex which connects with the circle around Chinyero, but we were not going that far! We walked past the rural hotel and up to a crossroads of tracks. The yellow/white path continues straight on, with another branch (to San Jose de los Llanos) going left but here we turned right. (Well, if I’m honest we went left for a small diversion, which did not turn out well so I am not relating it!)
We followed the track as far as a fork with a fig tree between the two prongs and took the left track, heading fairly straight towards Mt Bilma a reddish-coloured volcano. We passed many fields with fig trees on either side of the track. Ignoring a track to the right we continued walking straight on until, after 20 minutes walking from the crossroads, we met another junction with a track, which was part of the yellow/white waymarked path from Santiago del Teide to Chinyero. We turned right there to return to Santiago del Teide.
The view towards Teide and Pico Viejo from the path near Mt Bilma
Following the yellow/white markings on the track with lava on our left, we shortly turned to the left at El Fronton – the end of the Chinyero lava of 1909. The pile of lava is about 4 metres high, with an abrupt end, and in front of it a turning circle for vehicles driving up the minor road from Valle de Arriba, and on the far side of that a small white shrine. The signpost for the trail points straight on for Santiago del Teide 3.6km away. The route we took followed this signposted route from now on.
The path went towards Mt Bilma for a while and then took a 90 degree turn to the right and started downhill with a view of Mt Gala, which we walked around earlier, ahead of us. After crossing another footpath, the slope became steeper and rougher and needed attention, and at the bottom of that section, next to a wedge-shaped reservoir was a fork, with the signpost pointing to the left. This was the beginning of the new bit of path we had not walked before. It did prove to be quite rough underfoot for much of the way, so if you prefer a more comfortable walking surface, I suggest you go straight on, which leads you onto the Valle de Arriba road, where you would turn left to get back to the start. However, we walked along the new path which wound its way across the rough ground to arrive on the edge of the village not far from the church.
The recently cleared path heading for the church of Santiago del Teide
Reaching tarmac we went right, left and right again to get to the church plaza where there is a Tourist Information office. We had only to turn right, along the main road going to the left of the church to get back to where we parked.
The walk was 13.5km /8.4 miles long and took about 4.25 hours (after deducting our unsuccessful diversion). There was approximately 400m of climbing.
Pleasant walk from Valle de Arriba
The path up the valley from Valle de Arriba
This walk is a pleasant one, with a variety of different landscapes, some nice views but mainly gentle climbs and descents. It is in a figure of eight, so although it is a fairly long walk, it could be cut to less than half by making a circle instead of an eight. The full walk is 15.7km/9.8miles, with 454m/1490ft of ascent and descent, and took us 4 hrs 38 mins. If you did just a circle from Valle de Arriba it would take just 2 hours, 5.9km/3.7miles with only about 200m/660ft of ascent and descent.
Looking towards the newly build Agricultural Museum that is yet to open
In Valle de Arriba we parked near an electricity pylon in the road just beyond the church. The road is wider there because of the pylon so there is some space for parking. From there we walked up the road in a northerly direction, ignoring a turning right and keeping straight on to the end of the tarmac. Then we turned to the right on a track, then soon after, left up a slope onto the path. The path goes up a valley in a northerly direction. This area was badly affected by the 2007 forest fire and you can still see the blackened skeletons of the shrubs that were burnt. However, new young shrubs are growing up in their place, and the signs of birdlife, shows that the area is recovering. There were a lot of Lesser white bugloss (Echium aculeatum), the local endemic form of the Viper’s bugloss, up this valley, flowering at the moment and interesting the bees. There was also a fine clump of Retama (Retama raetam) not far from the path, all in flower, but too far away for us to enjoy the scent.
Lesser white bugloss (Echium aculeatum)
At the top of this path you reach a road, the one from the Restaurant Fleytas to San Jose de los Llanos and La Montañeta. We went to the right on a faint path with cairns to climb up to the track that goes round the mountain to the right, Mt de Tamaseche. However, the path up there is quite steep and might not suit everyone, so if you prefer you can go right and walk along the road for 0.5km/0.3m till you get to a roundabout and turn right. If you climb the steep path to the track, you go left on the track and circle the mountain, with the road below you till you get to the same level at the roundabout where there is a large old pine tree. Along the track are some plants and flowers of interest, including Madeiran sorrel (Rumex maderensis), Cineraria (Pericallis echinata) and Sticky broom (Adenocarpus foliosus), all of which were in flower. Turn right here and go up a track. After the initial stretch with the tree-covered mountain to your right, the views open out, including a good view up to Mt Teide.
Madeiran sorrel (Rumex maderensis)
After walking about 900m/1000yds up the track from the roundabout, (about 1hr of walking from the start in Valle de Arriba), you reach a crossroads of tracks. This is the crossing point of the figure of 8, and if you want a short walk turn right here. Otherwise go left. The track goes on past open fields and then enters the edge of a pine-dominated woodland with evergreen shrubs of Faya (Myrica faya) beneath them. Continue along this track till you get in sight of a substantial white-painted building, fenced off with chain-link fencing. Before you get to this building, which is a drinking water reservoir, turn right onto a track doubling back to your right.
After 5 minutes walking along this track, (about 0.5km/0.3m) start looking to the left for a large cairn and the start of a footpath, with stones lined up each side. If you miss the path at first keep looking to the left for it as it is in sight of the track for some way, but move onto it as soon as you see it as the track turns to the right and you want to be going to the left with the path.
View of Volcan Negro on the left, Mt Teide and Pico Viejo to the right
This path is part of the PR-TF-43 complex and you are on the path which goes from San Jose de los Llanos to Chinyero. It has yellow/white standard signage and parallel paint marks. After about 30 minutes walking through pleasant forest the path goes up a steep slope of black ‘sand’ to arrive at a track near the Volcan Negro on the left. There are views to Mt Teide and Pico Viejo straight on. A covered channel crosses the landscape of black ‘sand’ parallel with the track. This is the Vergera canal which takes water from ground-water resources in the Barranco de Vergera above Los Realejos in the north to Guia de Isora. A signpost with the yellow/white livery directs you right, over the canal, towards Chinyero.
We passed another pleasant 30 minutes walking across the black ‘sand’ in amongst trees, and past rocks with orange stringy lichens and yellow Houseleeks (Aeonium spathulatum) flowering among the rocks. We had gone straight on at a path junction with a left turn signed to Arenas Negras and Garachico, and then shortly afterwards we had reached a signpost pointing in two directions for the Chinyero circular path. Here we went right, but we did not continue with the yellow/white path where it went left off the track after a few yards, instead we stayed on the track to take a shortcut, till a yellow/white marked path crossed the track after 15 minutes of walking, where we turned right to start our descent.
Houseleek (Aeonium spathulatum) growing in the lava rocks
We stayed on the yellow/white marked path, now heading for ‘Partidos de Franquis’ till we got back to the cross roads of tracks where our figure of 8 joins in the middle. We turned left and walked along the track taking the 2nd track on the left, after 12 minutes of walking. We then followed that track till a T-junction of tracks, turned right and met a narrow tarmac road which winds its way up to the end of the Chinyero lava. Going right on the tarmac we soon spotted our path on the right which took us back to Valle de Arriba by a more direct route than the road. Once in the village, and on tarmac we continued downhill, did a sharp right turn, then a left, left again and we were back to the cars.
You will find a downloadable GPS track of the walk, on maps at the following site:
tenerifenaturewalks 