Hiking in Lanzarote, Canary Islands

In the beginning of December, we took a four-day trip to the island of Lanzarote in the Canary Islands. Lanzarote, like all the other Canary Islands, is volcanic in origin, as is probably obvious since La Palma has been in the news a lot due to the recent eruption.

It is a rather stark island, consisting of clusters of brilliant white houses that contrast with the reds, greys, and blacks of the surrounding volcanic terrain. There are few trees and a lot of cactuses and a cactus-like plant group called spurges or Euphorbias. Cactuses are not native to the island. They originated in the Americas, but prickly pear were brought to the island as the food source for cochineal bugs, from which red dye is made and which is still used in foods today. They also make wine on the island, protecting the delicate plants from the strong winds by creating tall walls of volcanic rock that almost completely encircle the plant. We explored the island in our favorite way—on foot. Though we did rent a car to get to the trailheads.

Camino de los Gracioseros

Beyond the small town of Yé, this short but enjoyable hike heads from the cliffs high above the “river” between the main island of Lanzarote and the smaller island of La Graciosa, hence the name of the trail—gracioseros means people going to La Graciosa. The river, as it is called, is just the small stretch of ocean between the two islands.

The trail is steep—it drops about 1,100 feet (340 m) in just over a mile (1.8 km)—and rocky. At the trailhead, we asked a pair of people returning if we should choose hiking boots over running shoes. They recommended the boots. So, fresh from the airport, we donned our hiking attire, boots and all, to head down to the beach.

The best part of this trail is the panoramic view of the ocean, the surrounding cliffs, the island of La Graciosa, and the other little pointy islands beyond it. Once down at the base of the cliffs, there is a somewhat long-feeling, if not actually long in distance, walk along low sand dunes to the beach. There are a few trails branching off along this portion, but we chose to keep going in the general direction of La Graciosa, following what seemed to be the bulk of the footprints in the sand.

We were rewarded by emerging from the dunes and beach grass to the start of a shallow cove, Playa del Risco, facing the island, with rocky shore to our left and a curve of sand stretching toward the narrowest point between Lanzarote and La Graciosa.

Before heading back the way we came, I sat on the beach to enjoy the rhythm of the waves washing back and forth while my partner walked along the beach to explore and try to get a better view of the salinas, where they collect salt, further along the shore.

Recommended gear: Sunscreen (this may not be surprising, but there is no shade in Lanzarote), water, hiking boots or at least a running shoe designed for rocky trails, hiking poles if you like them for balance or to reduce impact on the knees, a swimsuit, and a towel. Plus, snacks and whatever else you might need depending on how long you plan to stay at the beach.

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Coastal Route (Ruta del Litoral), Timanfaya National Park

This route starts along the coast at the edge of the town of El Golfo* and is one of only two trails in Timanfaya National Park. However, the other, Tremesana via the town of Yaiza, needs to be reserved and this one does not.

The entire trail is about 12 mi/26 km in length from El Golfo to Playa de Madera, crossing a labyrinth of lava from eruptions in both 1730 and 1824. However, we chose a shorter route that takes you through the lava to Playa del Paso and returns to El Golfo via a network of dirt roads.

The main interest is walking among the sharp, irregular lava field with expansive views of where it meets the ocean. The trail itself is mostly easy to follow and passes by several lava tubes of varying sizes, but the terrain is uneven and sometimes difficult to walk on.

The trail continues along the lava field, heading slightly up, until the highest point along a sort of ridge. Here, we saw a dirt road almost directly below us—to the Playa del Paso. After following a ridge slightly down and parallel to the road, the trail meets it. We turned left to head the beach and relax with some comfortable road walking.

To me, the beach is the highlight of this hike, even though it is too dangerous for swimming. It is a small, black sand beach tucked beneath a towering lava cliff. On one side, the waves crash dramatically against the cliff. We spent quite a lot of time here, relaxing and looking for tiny, green olivine crystals amongst the black sand. This is a type of mineral found in certain igneous rocks, which are formed when lava cools.

To return, we went back up the dirt road to where we came out on the trail and then continued straight on the road until we passed the gate exiting the national park and came to a little cluster of houses. From here, we went right and down past some houses, then right again after a large archway. The turn off this road is a little tricky. We passed a few more houses and just as the road started to turn to the left, we took a barely discernable trail to the right that led back to the edge of El Golfo where we started.

*If you park in the lot just after descending toward the coast, but before going through the town, you can take a quick side trip to El Charco Verde, about a 10-minute walk from that lot. There is also a lot on the other end of town where the trail starts. It just depends on where you want to park because the town isn’t very big so walking across is takes about 5 minutes.

Recommended gear: Sunscreen (obviously), water (plenty) and snacks, hiking boots or at least a running shoe designed for rocky trails, hiking poles if you like them for balance, but they may get trapped in the terrain easily.

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Coastal Route, Puerto del Carmen to Playa Quemada

This route runs from the parking at Playa Chica in Puerto del Carmen along the coast. It isn’t really a trail I would have chosen for a hike, but I had several hours to kill while my partner was scuba diving from this extremely popular diving area and decided to run this route. I was ultimately surprised by how lovely the views were along the coast, and the section from Puerto Calero to Playa Quemada was particularly quiet and solitary.

The paved route continues from Playa Chica to the edge of town, climbing a long series of paved switchbacks just past the marina. Here it continues to the edge of the town and switches to an easy trail winding along the coast to the town of Puerto Calero. Entering the town is a little confusing, as the trail descends to a road, but the continuation is a bit to the right after crossing and continues steeply up, switching to a mostly paved route. It continues along this higher part of the town above the marina, crossing another road, then descending to what seems like a private hotel beach. But the trail continues just on the other side, heading steeply up a series of rocky stairs.

At the top of the stairs, the trail becomes slightly more rugged, rocky, and eroded in places. There are also several trails/dirt roads connecting off the trail, so it is important to stick more or less to the coast. The dirt trail ends at an unassuming asphalt road in Playa Quemada, but following the road down, turning left, then following the road down to the right will bring you to a beach of large stones and pebbles, which was much different than the beaches I had already seen. From Playa Quemada, it is possible to follow trails up into the hills beyond and down to other quite remote beaches. However, I chose to return, realizing that my run had been so smooth and fun because the wind was at my back and I was now running against the wind.

Recommended gear: Sunscreen (yes, still no shade), running shoes or boots (either are fine but boots are not really necessary here), money (for stopping in Playa Quemada or Puerto Calero for lunch or snacks), water. I should note that I didn’t plan to run for this long, so I didn’t bring any of this. I regretted the lack of water, but because it was somewhat early, I didn’t have a problem with the sun.

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Caldera Blanca

This was my favorite hike on Lanzarote. The parking lot is off a rough volcanic rock and dirt road outside the town of Mancha Blanca. The first part winds through an enormous lava field like the route along the coast in Timanfaya. This trail, however, is mostly lined with pumice rocks, which makes the walking somewhat tiring on the legs. There are also interpretive signs along the way, presenting information about the different aspects of the lava field—like how lichens growing on the lava indicate that it is from an older eruption or how the carved-out areas on the side of the caldera are not natural but from people removing the volcanic ash for use in their fields to help retain water.

It’s possible to do this hike in a loop, which we did. Well, it’s more of a lollipop, actually. From the main trail, once we reached the smaller caldera, La Caldereta, which you can also climb (we did not), we followed a faint trail through the lava up toward the flank of Caldera Blanca. This trail was not as well-manicured as the main trail and climbs up and over the rough and sharp terrain and past at least one lava tube. Eventually, we reached the end of the lava field and worked our way up and along the side of the caldera in a deeply eroded but stable and easy-to-walk-on trail. This took us to one of the low points on the edge of the crater. Although the sides of the crater are quite wide, its massive size—about ¾ mile across (1,200 meters)—made me feel a bit exposed. The trail continues left along the side of the crater to reach the high point almost directly opposite from where we came out onto the rim.

At the “summit,” we sat for lunch and watched a couple of ravens scout for dropped food before continuing along the other side of the crater. This section heads down to another low point along the crater’s rim, to the other trail that returns back down to the lava field. This trail is also eroded, but instead of firm rock like the trail up, it’s mostly loose dirt and rocks. It was along this trail, that I encountered someone with the most sunburned face I have ever seen. I was so shocked at the redness that my mouth almost fell open. I had heard of this phenomenon in Spain—people who come to the beaches and islands and don’t wear sunscreen. But I imagined a normal pink sunburn, nothing like this almost tomato-red color. Now I understand why people here call these visitors cangrejos, which means “crab.”

At the base of the caldera, the trail circles back toward the main trail. We continued along this pumice-lined trail to the car, ate, changed, and headed to the airport, coming full circle with our airport-hike/hike-airport tour of Lanzarote.

Recommended gear: Sunscreen (please, please don’t be a cangrejo), water (plenty) and snacks, hiking boots or at least a running shoe designed for rocky trails, hiking poles are not necessary for most of the trail, but they would be nice for the final eroded downhill.

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I had no idea what to expect in visiting Lanzarote and was pleasantly surprised by all the island had to offer. I enjoyed our hikes immensely and noted other parts of the island I would like to explore on foot another time.