OFF THE BEATEN TRACK
HIKING AND ROUND TRIPS
Pico de las Nieves
Spain
View from Pico de las Nieves of Gran Canaria and Teide on Tenerife
Pico de las Nieves, "the snow summit", is the highest summit on Gran Canaria, 1949 metres high. The hike ends in San Bartolomé from where you take a taxi back to the summit. Another option is parking your car at Pico de las Nieves, walking down and then turn around and go the same way back up.
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Starting/Finishing point
Parking at Pico de las Nieves or in San Bartolomé
Distance
10 kilometres
Length of time
2-3 hours
Ascent/Descent
-1000
Difficulty
Blue
Water along the way
No
Shoes to choose
Trail running shoes or hiking boots
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Pico de las Nieves hike
Drive or take the bus to Pico de Las Nieves. There is a small parking. Most people go here to hike the few metres to the top so if the parking is full, wait for some 10 minutes and you will find your parking. It is for free. There is a small café selling drinks.
The hike starts where the stonebrick wall ends and the first part of the track is steep down, then a litter flatter through a lovely pine forest until you cross the trail of the King´s road. Shortly thereafter you can do a short detour (200 metres) to a huge arche with views of Roque Noblu and Teide.
You then follow the King´s road all the way down to San Bartolomé. We turned around when we reached the stonecobbled part of the trail (photo below).
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Where to stay in Tejeda, Gran Canaria?
There are some really affordable apartments for rent in Tejeda. We stayed at the hotel by Cruz de la Tejeda, Parador Nacional de Tejeda. Its standard rooms are lovely with a lovely balcony and there are also suites in the older part of the building that have large terraces.
Its SPA is spectacular with its views of the mountains and Teide on Tenerife (photo below). It is however not included if you stay at the hotel. The cost is about 25 Euros pp for two hours. Nice to try at least once during your stay.
All over Spain you find paradores, often 4-star hotels usually located in some converted historic building like a monastery or castle in a lovely environment. They are government operated.
Where to eat?
There is a restaurant and café in the hotel. It is quite affordable compared to Las Palmas or the south coast. We had all dinners and breakfast in the restaurant. It got a bit boring though the food was just fine. There are also some restaurants in the lovely little village Tejeda that we will try the next time.
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