The Enchanting Anaga Mountains

Overview

The sunny island of Tenerife is not only known for beautiful beaches and delicious seafood restaurants - one of the nicest things you can do on the island is outdoor activities like hiking, biking and walking.Tenerife, with its mountains, volcanic landscapes and fascinating vegetation, attract many nature lovers who seek escape from the hectic city life. One of the most popular mountain range on Tenerife is the Anaga Mountains, located in the northeast of the island.

The Anaga Mountains

The Anaga massif in Tenerife is geologically the oldest part of the island. It is well known for its romantic cliffs, deep gorges and dense fog in the higher mountainous area, forming one of the most important eco system on the island. Its dense laurel forests retains moistures, providing the much needed water and helps keeping the soil fertile. The steep ridges (some about 1000m in height) of Anaga and its valleys and ravines that unfold to the sea level, form the various beaches we have now on the island, some so secluded they are only accessible by foot. From here, full views to the beautiful and contrasting north and south coasts can be admired.

This 20km long and 10km wide headland east of the capital Santa Cruz is a remote paradise for nature lovers, bikers and hikers alike. Rocky cliff faces, deep canyons and the mystical laurisilva forests make it particularly attractive nature playground. The area is sparsely populated, on one of the many Anaga’s walking trails, every now and then you will meet friendly greeting locals who work in the fields, or goats and sheep grazing on the gorge slopes. The Anaga Mountains (and the northeast of the island in particular) tends to get more rain than the desert-like southern part of the island. Making it much greener and pleasant for outdoor activities.

Activities

To best way to explore Anaga, the oldest ecosystem of Tenerife is by hiking or biking. There are several organised tours available offering pick ups from major resorts on the island. For those who are keen to do wander around this beautiful region on their own, there are many routes to with sign posts available. The region is characterised by countless stunning gorges and ridges which stretches all the way to some of the most remote beaches on the island. There are water taxi boat services available should you wish to be transported back to civilisation after a long hike down. Click here to find out more about the water taxi.