Hiking in La Palma

Everyone seems to be going to Madeira these days, but I can recommend hiking in La Palma as well! Unlike Madeira, La Palma has a ferry connection to mainland Europe. Although you can travel directly from Spain to La Palma, Dan & I took a ferry from Cádiz to Tenerife, followed by a local one to La Palma. Once on the island, we enjoyed some incredibly scenic hikes. In fact, I wish we had more time in La Palma rather than Tenerife. Partly because La Palma is a lot quieter and doesn’t have as many mega resorts, but mostly because the hiking was so good. More about that below.

Camino de las Fuentes (short)

To start off our few days of hiking in La Palma, we walked a small 9 km circular loop near Breña Alta. You can get to the start of PR-LP 19 trail by bus from Santa Cruz de La Palma, though the service is not very frequent. The trail is mostly well-maintained and easy to follow. There are signposts at crossings, so you won’t get lost. The ascent is not too bad either, with most of the route being undulating rather than steep. Especially when you start on the PR-LP 18.2 from San Pedro going south, you get most of the uphill out of the way before you get onto the proper trail. As the name implies, the route takes you past several springs. We didn’t necessarily notice these springs, though we did cross a couple of streams.

The surroundings on the PR-LP 19 are very green. The vegetation in the forested areas looked quite tropical to me. When you get to the highest part of the trail, the trees open up to a more meadow-like biome with grass and shrubs. The views from there are great, as you can see Tenerife and La Gomera in the distance. When we were there in late September, there were beautiful flowers in bloom, too. The PR-LP 18.2 part of the hike was less exciting, because you walk through residential areas. Do keep an eye out for the many shrines along the roads.

The main downside about doing this walk is the number of dogs who aggressively growl and bark at you. The majority of them are safely behind a fence in people’s gardens, but it’s still quite intimidating. We came across one friendly freeroaming dog near the start and a group of angry ones about halfway round. Although these looked and sounded mean, they were probably as afraid of us as I was of them, so they kept their distance. This encounter did put me on edge for the rest of the walk, sadly.

Montaña Quemeda (medium)

Ascent

This hike was the absolutely highlight of our Canary Islands trip. Though the PR-LP 18.2 starts off along roads from San Isidro, there is a trail up to the mountain once you leave the last houses behind. The road for cars winds up the mountain, whereas the walking trail cuts straight across. This means you walk on a trail for a while, then cross the road, continue on the trail, cross the road again, and so on. The paths between the winding road were easy to find, except for one bit. Here, the trail was so overgrown we had to follow the road instead. As we climbed further, pine trees surrounded us. Their needles covered the ground, which looked cool.

Near the top of the volcanic ridge, there were a few picnic sites. El Pilar is a refuge on the ridge where you can camp, use the toilet and walk around the visitor centre to learn more about the volcanic history of the area. We had a break here, before continuing on the PR-LP 14 towards Montaña Quemeda. It was funny to see how different the weather was on each side of the ridge. On our ascent from the east, the air was humid as we walked though mist. On the western side, however, the air was much drier and we were met by a bright sun!

Descent

As we started descending after El Pilar, the path under our feet gradually changed. Pine needles gave way to black, volcanic sand. Trees became more sparse as well, giving us clear sight of the green mountains. It was both beautiful and impressive to see the ridge of volcanoes surrounded by ash. From Montaña Quemeda, we followed a trail going north, running parallel to the LP-301 car road. This part of the route made of dry, rocky ground with trees and bushes on either side. Where the LP-301 meets the LP-3, we took a bus to Los Llanos.

You could start the route where we ended, as the bus route connects both sides of the island. You can get to the trail next to the LP-301 from either Los Llanos and El Paso on the west or Santa Cruz de Palma on the east. Alternatively, you can do a loop from El Pilar, which is a popular thing to do. Personally, we enjoyed hiking up the side of the mountains, rather than starting at the top. Whatever you do, the trails are generally well-marked, and there are routes in all directions.

El Bastón (long)

From the southern tip of La Palma, you can do an amazing thru-hike. The GR131 long distance hike takes you along the volcanic ridge in the centre of the island before bending west to end in Tazacorte. If we were to come back to La Palma, this is the route Dan & I would aspire to do. With a total distance of 65 km, you can complete El Bastón trail in 3 to 4 days. The route is divided into 3 sections based on the different types of environments you cross. The official La Palma hiking website has all the information you need to plan this long distance route.

Most important tips

• You can get around La Palma by bus, but plan in advance to make sure you don’t have to wait for hours.
• There are many hiking trails in La Palma suitable for various levels of difficulty.
• With a combination of a map, clear paths and excellent signage, you are unlikely to get lost.
• Prepare for changing weather conditions, especially if you cross the central volcanic ridge.
• Beware of freeroaming, sometimes aggresive dogs on the edges of inhabited areas.