1

Tenerife Sur: Short Walks Under 10 km Santiago del Teide Almond Blossom

Route Summary This delightful circular walk is especially beautiful when the almond trees are in flower during January and February but provides marvellous all-round mountain views at any time of year. Duration: 2.5 to 3 hours.

Route Overview Duration: About 2.5 to 3 hours. Transport/Parking: Titsa 460 from Adeje. Usually easy parking on main road and back streets.

Length: 6.890 km / 4.31 mi Height gain: 279 meter Height loss: 279 meter Max Height: 1096 meter Min Height: 922 meter Surface: Rough Child Friendly: Yes Difficulty: Medium Dog Friendly: Yes Refreshments: Cafes, restaurants and bars in Santiago del Teide. We like the Bar Cafetería Tropic II, authentic Canarian main courses and tapas, friendly service.

Description The walk starts and ends in Santiago del Teide and largely follows old rural "caminos" as it at first heads towards the village of Valle de Arriba then climbs up the hillside for an extended traverse to the village of Las Manchas at the other end of the valley. This walk is especially beautiful when the almond trees are in flower during January and February, but provides the opportunity for marvellous all-round mountain views at any time of year. Although not a particularly arduous hike, the paths are mostly very stony and uneven, and there are overall ascents and descents of almost 300 m.

2

Waypoints (1) Start walk at children's play park (28.29693; -16.81455) The walk starts opposite the Parque Infantil Dorma Perez on Calle Juan Cabeza. For a very short distance we take the narrow road signposted for El Cementerio, looking for a narrow path off on our left.

(2) Turn off road onto path (28.29684; -16.81419) After only 36 m, we turn left off the paved road onto the rough Sendero Chinyero path. If this is almond blossom season (Jan/Feb) you will see many blossoms in this initial area of the walk. Carry on as the path twists and turns through the old lava field. (36 m)

(3) Leave the lava field (28.30264; -16.80530) After 1.3 km we rise out of the old lava field onto an embankment, passing a water tank on our left as we veer right to take the obvious path uphill. Not far ahead there is a grey/white building above us on our left, which is our immediate objective. (1.3 km)

(4) Turn left to pass white building (28.30230; -16.80463) After a short climb of 75 m, we turn off the main path here to our left and pass around the grey/white building on our right. (1.4 km) N.B. It is possible to shorten the walk at this point by continuing on the main path, uphill. If so, continue upwards to the signposts at Waypoints 9/10. Your route will be 1.1 km shorter, saving 20 to 30 minutes.

3

(5) Veer right onto indistinct path (28.30271; -16.80436) After a very short distance (55 m, or so), and with the grey/white building behind us, we veer right onto an indistinct, and possibly overgrown, path. The grey pipe, crossing a gap, will be on our left as we negotiate the path around the hillside eventually joining an open embankment. (1.4 km)

(6) Embankment with old rails (28.30381; -16.80370) After 150 m on the hillside path we reach a fairly broad embankment with old narrow gauge rails still in place on the ground. We follow the rails towards a waterworks building beside a "galeria" (where water is drawn from a natural reservoir under the hillside). Here we take the rough road downhill to our left and continue to follow the road as it twists to the right and ascends, with vineyards/agricultural fields in the valley on our left. Soon we will see the settlement of Valle de Arriba getting closer. (1.6 km)

(7) Leave rough road for path on right here (28.30551; -16.80211) After a further 400 m, and before we reach Valle de Arriba ahead of us, we leave the rough road where we see a path on our right signposted Ruta del Almendro. There are terraced plots to our left as take the path for only a short distance, looking for a sharp turn to our right. (2 km)

(8) Path ascends to the right here (28.30540; -16.80181) After only 30 m, or so, and with the terraced plots behind us, we turn right on the path and start a short section with a steep, at times slippery, ascent before the path levels out and begins to snake around the hillside. We are now walking away from the village of Valle de Arriba, with our starting point at Santiago del Teide in the distance on our right across the valley. As we proceed, we will pass above the galeria buildings that we encountered a little earlier. (2 km)

4

(9) Pass signposts on right (28.30148; -16.80195) After 500 m winding our way around the hillside we come to a staggered x-roads on the path network. We pass the signpost on our right, looking for an opening with a signpost veering right within a few metres. (2.5 km)

(10) Path to Las Manchas (28.30137; -16.80195) The main path twists left to ascend the hillside but after less than 10 m we take the opening on our right signposted for Las Manchas that will continue to take us around the hillside at a similar level to before. The valley and Santiago del Teide are still on our right-hand side as proceed on this old path to Las Manchas. (2.5 km)

(11) Views to the coast (28.29582; -16.80173) After about 700 m, as we continue on the rocky path to Las Manchas, marvellous views will begin to open out all around and particularly down to the coast at Puerto Santiago. Also, towards the left aspect of our view, we will see the twin openings to the El Bicho tunnel that bores 1 km through the La Hoya mountain, on the new main road south. (3.2 km)

(12) Las Manchas in sight now (28.29189; -16.80150) After a further 500 m, or so, the village of Las Manchas will start to come into view ahead. (3.7 km)

5

(13) Enter lunar landscape (28.29017; -16.80041) After a further 200 m, the terrain around us suddenly changes to have a very bare, lunar look with a strange arrangement of standing stones on our right. The path widens through this strange open area, that may have been re-constituted after quarrying operations? If the skies are clear, look out for the cone of El Teide high above you. (3.9 km)

(14) Carry on through x-roads (28.28930; -16.79902) After a further 200 m, still within the open "lunar" landscape, carry on through a x-roads. If it is almond blossom season you will see the hillside ahead of you above Las Manchas dotted with many, many almond trees. Note also the black lava flow from the eruption of El Chinyero in 1909. After we leave this open rocky section we will come across a simple shrine on our right. Here, the villagers celebrate that their prayers were apparently answered when the lava flow from the Chinyero eruption almost engulfed their homes. The lava stopped flowing … but just a few metres from their back doors! (4.1 km)

(15) Avenue of Almond trees (28.28612; -16.79978) As we descend towards the main road to Las Manchas we pass though an avenue of almond trees with dry-stone walls on either side of the rough road we are following. Near the bottom of this avenue we are looking for a path on our right. (4.5 km)

(16) Turn right onto path here (28.28521; -16.79988) After a further 100 m, before the rough road with dry-stone walls on either side meets the tarred main road at Las Manchas, we turn sharp right onto a rough path that will take us, for a short while, on a different route to the main road. (4.6 km)

6

(17) Information board at main road (28.28494; -16.80147) After 150 m, or so, the rough path reaches the main road where there is an information board. After checking out the board, we cross the road and take Calle Bilma for a short distance downhill into the village of Las Manchas. (4.8 km)

(18) Turn right at T-junction (28.28509; -16.80299) After 200 m, when Calle Bilma reaches the T-junction with Calle San Isidro, we turn right and carry on until we meet the main road again, turning left there to proceed downhill. (5 km)

(19) Turn right off main road (28.29002; -16.80809) After 800 m walking downhill at the side of the road that ascends to to Las Manchas, we turn right onto a minor one-way road leading out of Santiago del Teide, passing the cemetery as we proceed back down to our starting point at the children's park. (5.8 km)

(20) End of walk (28.29688; -16.81463) The walks ends where we started at the Parque Infantil Dorma Perez on Calle Juan Cabeza. (6.9 km)

7

Route Map

Links: Photos from walk Download GPX file (GPS Exchange Format) Download Route Guide PDF (with illustrated Waypoints) Access Walk on Viewranger