Tenerife: Hiking the Los Gigantes Cliffs
Before the Spanish conquest in the XV century, what is now known as Los Gigantes Cliffs was previously known as “the wall of hell”. I’ve also seen them referred to as “the devil’s wall.” They impressively stretch from the Port of Los Gigantes to Punta de Teno, the westernmost point of the island, forming a spectacular basalt wall of volcanic origin. They reach a height of 600 meters/1,968 feet (although I’ve seen 800M posted as well) and sink into the depths of the ocean for 30 meters/98 feet.
Needless to say…I was excited to hike them. AND whew, what a hike it was. It was a LOT of steep uphill, very rocky given it’s all volcanic, and for the steep downhill I was “slip sliding away” on those darn rocks. 8 miles round trip through banana plantations and moonscape type terrain to heights overlooking the Atlantic Ocean and the Tenerife coastline all with beautiful views.
The hike starts and ends just above the cafe at my favorite spot, the Mirador de Archipenque. How fortuitous is that? Hike up the road and take a left at this sign towards Santiago de Teide through banana fields then steep left climb up rocky paths to the summit. Keep following the markings and when you see an X, go the other way.
