Scenic hiking day in Gran Canaria
Combine two hikes for a full day of hiking around Roque Nublo National Park, which offers dramatic trails and a variety of landscapes. P.S.: you'll need a rental car.
Scenic drive to the start of the trail
Drive up to the Roque Nublo car park where the trail starts, which is already an adventure by itself. The scenic drive takes you along beautiful valleys and you'll frequently want to stop to take pictures of the view. Be careful though, as it is a narrow road with many bends and turns.
Best viewpoint
Reveal secret tip
Roque Nublo circular hike
The first hike is a fairly easy one of 6 km. The hike starts with a steep path towards Roque Nublo. Along the way, you will encounter several other rock formations. You can walk right up to Roque Nublo, walk around it and even climb on parts of it. From here, you have a nice view over the valley and on a clear day, you can spot El Teide on Tenerife in the distance. Walk back to the trail where it then takes a circular route through the Canarian pine forests back to the Roques Nublo car park.
Pico de las Nieves circular hike
If you're up for more, continue with the 10 km hike to the highest point of the island: Pico de las Nieves. In contrast to the Roque Nublo hike, this route isn't crowded and most of the time you'll have the trail to yourself. You walk through another part of the Canarian pine forest and the valley, which offers spectacular views. The last kilometre to the top is quite steep and the vegetation on the path is very dense. When we arrived at the top, we saw that there is a road leading to the viewpoint. So, we could have gone there by car... The trail was so nice we were glad we hiked to the top and didn't know about that road! And then the reward after reaching the top... That view! Stay and sit there for a while and soak it all in. The way back follows the rim of the valley: first through a forest, then on a lunar landscape and finally through another forest until you're back at the car park.