Anaga Mountains
Anaga Mountains
The forgotten part of Tenerife, yet a place of extreme beauty and serenity. The Anaga mountains are located at the far northern corner of the island, a world away from the bustling cities and beach resorts. It is a landscape that you won’t find something similar in the entirety of the Canary Islands. Unlike the volcanic nature of these islands, the Anaga mountains are lush green mountains up in the clouds with forests and wild beaches dotting the entire region. In this region, you’ll truly experience the local life of these islands with small villages nestled up in the mountains and shepherds and herds of sheep roaming freely on its slopes. Venturing into this region will satisfy your adventurous soul and is well worth the effort to at least do a day hike in this off-the-beaten path region.
Although there is an extensive network of trails in these mountains, it is really hard to get a good map of the entire trail network. However, the website of the natural preserve has detailed maps and descriptions of each individual trail and it is up to you to combine these trails together to enjoy a magnificent day hike On Your Own in this serene region (click to request info).
I did a day hike in the Anaga mountains totally independently through using public buses to connect to and from the start and ending points of my planned hike. I combined a number of trails together to enjoy an amazing hiking day of approximately 17 kms which took around 5-6 hours to complete, passing through several local and stunningly beautiful mountain villages and wild beaches…So lets start the adventure!
This is a rough sketch of my hiking tour in the Anaga mountains and in the following sections, I’ll take you through a detailed journey on each of these trails.
I started my hike at the Mirrador Cruz del Carmen which I reached using a public bus from Santa Cruz (click to request info). I got off the bus and hit the ground running from the excitement. The first trail I hiked on was a 3.7km hike from Cruz del Carmen till Las Carboneras via trails #10 and 10.1. The entire trail is a downhill, so it’ll be a nice warmup for the day. The trail starts from the bus stop at Cruz del Carmen and immediately you’ll enter into the lush green forest and you’ll be forgiven if you forgot that you are in the Canary Islands:) 
This trail is so surreal and after around 2.5km on trail #10, you’ll reach a junction with trail #10.1 on which you’ll continue hiking for around 1.2km. This trail should take you around an hour to complete, but don’t be in a hurry and just enjoy the sounds of the forest:)
When reaching the village of Las Carboneras, its now time to switch to another trail. The next trail you’ll hike on will be the longest section of the day (6km). This leg will take you from Las Carboneras to the village of Afor via trail #9. The first section of this trail is mostly downhill again that will take you around a small mountain gorge. One tip here, look back while hiking for magnificent views of Las Carboneras.
The landscape here gets wilder as you are now in the middle of towering mountains and surrounded by forests from all angles…Stunning!
The next section of this trail is one of two uphill sections in the entire day; and although, it is only 1km in length, it is moderately tough and would require some effort to tackle it. Reaching this high point stunning views will start to unveil in all directions. So take a rest and enjoy the views as now you’ll start feeling the true Anaga experience.
From this point the trail will almost be flat for 1.5km, allowing you to soak in the views while hiking and you’ll start passing some local houses with domestic animals playing around:). The next 2km will be a steep downhill to the village of Afor…Facing the ocean while hiking this section, you can’t ask for better views and you’ll reach Afor after almost 1.5 hours on this trail.
Afor is at the mouth of river running from the mountains to the ocean, so the next trail will be hiking along the river till you reach the wild beach of Playa de Tamadite on trail #8. This trail is 2.5km in length, but it is an easy trail and should take you around 30-45 minutes to complete. Along the way you’ll pass several small bridges that cross the river and hiking this trail will feel like you are in a playground:) and it is your own playground as from now on, you’ll hardly meet anyone till you finish this day hike.
Playa de Tamadite is a very wild beach with high waves smashing into the rocks, you can swim there, but it is not easy, so be careful…I personally didn’t:)
Have a good rest here as you’ll start the next big uphill section after this point. The next trail is trail #8 that will take you all the way to the village of Taganana. It is a 4.5km wild hike up the cliffs above the ocean with no one around you…and its amazing! First, you’ll have to navigate the 0.7km uphill section till you reach the top of the trail…its tough but well worth it! At this point, the views are unbelievable… it is beautiful, wild and very surreal. From here to Taganana, you’ll hike on almost a flat trail with the ocean to your left, the mountains to your right, and the beautiful horizon in front of you.
It is a narrow trail that hugs the edge of the cliff which will keep your adrenaline pumping all the way. With every turn, stunning views and rock formations will unveil in front of you…so enjoy:)
Finally, you’ll reach the top of the village of Taganana and you’ll hike down between its white houses till you reach the main square and the bus stop from which you’ll catch your bus back to Santa Cruz. One final tip, Taganana is famous for its locally produced wine, so treat yourself with a glass of tasty wine before you head back and enjoy a magnificent sunset:)
