Turismo Granadilla

This circular walk starts and ends in Vilaflor de Chasna, in the square in the historic centre of the town. As it starts to climb up along the traditional Chasna Trail (Camino de Chasna) it becomes surrounded by pine forest, and after passing through el Murrubial, the track enters the municipality of Granadilla de Abona.

We pass a crossroads which is the junction where the GR-131 continues up towards the peak, and we begin to walk down towards Los Escurriales, the area known as “Paisaje Lunar” (Moon Landscape). It is in fact an important geological area of pumice or white ash which was thrown up by eruptions in the highlands of the island millions of years ago.

This area is characterised by the Canary Island pine forest which grows on the southern slopes of the island. The pine trees do not usual grow densely and are instead interspersed with shrubs such as rockroses and broom. In the past, this area of forest was exploited for the production of timber and firewood as well as rosin, a resin produced from pine trees and used to produce tar which was in turn used to waterproof the hulls of wooden ships.

These pine forests, recovered after the deforestation carried out centuries ago, provide an extraordinary habit nowadays for the nesting and feeding of bird species that are characteristic of the Canary Island pine forests, such as the great spotted woodpecker and the blue chaffinch.

You can return to Vilaflor by taking the PR-TF 72, which takes you down the western side of Mount Juan González (Montaña de Juan González), or else go down to Granadilla or Las vegas along the PR-TF 83 or PR-Tf 83.1, as described earlier.