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This guidebook explores many waymarked trails on the island of Tenerife. This large island boasts routes of all types – from easy strolls to hands-on scrambling, from simple day-walks to long-distance trails. As these routes are fully signposted and waymarked, walkers can follow them with confidence and enjoy the island to the full. Almost 630km (390 miles) of trails are described in this guidebook.

Location

The Canary Islands are more or less enclosed in a rectangular area from 13°30′W to 18°00′W and 27°30′N to 29°30′N. As a group, they stretch west to east over 450km (280 miles). Although administered by Spain, the mother country is 1100km (685 miles) away. The narrowest strait between the Canary Islands and Africa is a mere 110km (70 miles). The total land area is almost 7500km (2900 square miles), but the sea they occupy is 10 times that size.

Geology

Most of the world’s volcanic landscapes are formed where huge continental or oceanic ‘plates’ collide with each other. When continental plates collide, the Earth’s crust crumples upwards to form mountains, and when plates are torn apart, basaltic rock from deep within the Earth’s mantle erupts to form mountains. The Canary Islands, however, are different, and have a complicated geological history.