Las Cañadas del Teide National Park

This is a must stop for all of you who are visiting Tenerife.

Since I was staying at the Costa Adeje, south of the island, I traveled from south to north along the TF-21 road in a rented car, from Vilaflor to Icod de los Vinos, crossing Las Cañadas. It is amazing to see how the landscape changes as you go up.

First you pass the forests of the Corona Forestal Natural Park, the biggest protected natural reserve of the archipelago (more than 46000 hectares).

When you pass the 2700 meters above sea level, the landscape drastically changes and the greenness is substituted by an arid landscape, almost lunar, composed by rocky formations, volcanic cones and craters.

If you are in Teide, you must go up by cable car to visit the upper part.

You go up about 3500 meters to a path that divides into two, one goes to the crater and the other one goes around it. If you want to go up to the crater you will need special written permission since it is a protected space and its access is very controlled. But the permission is free of charge.

When you up to the Teide, it is advisable to wear good sunscreen, also you should not run, since it is very high up and there is less oxygen in the air. It will tire you faster or affect people with respiratory problems.

The Teide is located at the center of the island, Tenerife, and you can see it from all over the island and it is impressive, it has a ring of clouds that decorate it permanently. It is 3718 meters above sea level and it is the highest peak in Spain, so you see why it shouldn’t be missed, right?

I will focus on my own experience, instead of giving you other specifics that can be found on the internet. It is a stratovolcano, and this is exactly what makes it so different, since the landscape is completely volcanic, full of rocks and caves, of black sand, different t o the one in the beaches of Tenerife, since it is made of little black stones. There are many different landscapes that can be admired in the national park, and they are all found in the same mountain.