Tejeda Almond Blossom Hiking Route

The Tejeda Almond Blossom hiking route is a classic for all those hikers who enjoy a good walk in the middle of unique places during the first flowering of the year in Gran Canaria.

At the foot of the Roque Nublo and surrounded by almond trees hides one of the secrets of the island: Tejeda, a heaven of peace that was already sacred to the natives before the arrival of the Europeans to Gran Canaria.

Miguel de Unamuno, one of the great authors of the Generation of '98, passed through these lands back in 1910 and wrote some words with the most repeated and famous definition of the summit:

“The show is impressive. All those black walls of the great caldera, with their crenellated crests, with their upright rocks, offer the appearance of a Dantesque vision. It's a tremendous petrified storm, a storm of fire, of lava, more than of water”.

Without a doubt, these lines are a good proof of the wild nature at the top of Gran Canaria. If you add to this the fact that during the months of January and February the almond trees blossom, the result is an unforgettable walk.

Tejeda Almond Blossom Hiking Trail Route in Gran Canaria

After travelling along a road with countless bends from any point on the island you’ll arrive at Tejeda, officially considered one of the most beautiful villages in Spain with around 2,000 inhabitants.

Imagine walking along a path where you can contemplate a sunset between mountains that look like seas. At the top of Gran Canaria there’s an impressive landscape of volcanic origin, with steep ravines and mist-covered rocks.

The route begins at the Cruz de Tejeda and ends in the village of Tejeda itself. Apart from the almond trees, along the way you can enjoy species such as the yellow broom, the lavender or the cragwood.

From the Cruz de Tejeda we start the descent with the Risco Chapí in front of us, on the northern wall of the Caldera de Tejeda, and we wind through the bush vegetation of the area. The view is spectacular: the Roque Bentayga rock, the Roque Nublo rock, the Pajonales pine forest, the Güi-Güi Massif, the Mesa de Acusa plateau, the Altavista Massif, and even the village of La Aldea de San Nicolás in the background.

We follow this beautiful and spectacular route of the Almond Blossom in Tejeda and soon we’ll come across a small hill covered with yellow broom on the right. If we look down the slope we’ll see old dikes exhumed by erosion and large rocks fallen down the slope that rest next to an old abandoned alpine tree.

After about 15-20 minutes we’ll reach a section of the road in the direction of Tejeda-Artenara. After 27 kilometres, we take a sharp bend to the left, leave the tarmac road on the right and follow a new path that starts next to an old almond tree.

In the background we can see the village of Tejeda and, in the distance, the Roque Bentayga rock. When the path reaches a small lamppost, we continue to the right, parallel to the road, and we’ll see a stone wall.

When we reach it, we turn right to return to a path that passes near another light pole. A few metres further on, and changing direction to NW, we’ll be walking alongside a large, whitish-coloured stone. The path now runs between the dry stone walls of old farming terraces.

Underneath we can see the El Rincón neighbourhood. When we reach a dirt track, we go down on the right to a new concrete path that leads to a nearby road.

We carry on to the roundabout and continue for about 300 metres until we reach a new crossroads, and for about a kilometre we pass the entrances to the neighbourhoods of Las Crucitas, Erilla and Majuelo, and finally reach Tejeda.

Cruz de Tejeda-Tejeda Itinerary

• Length: 2.850 meters
• Duration: 1 hour and 10 minutes
• Slope: +350 metres
• Gradient: 12.28% or 7
• Course: O-S
• Surface: earth and asphalt
• Difficulty: easy

Tejeda Almond Festival in Gran Canaria

Every year in the middle of winter, the village of Tejeda celebrates the Almond Blossom Festival, the first pagan celebration established as such in Gran Canaria and one of the first in the whole archipelago. The Canary Islands Government declared it a Festival of Tourist Interest on 23rd January 2014.

This celebration, which coincides with the flowering of the almond trees in January and February, still maintains the reminiscence of its origins, the feeling of a people for the customs and traditions that, despite the passing of time and changes in society have managed to remain year after year as an unmistakable symbol of the Canary Islands.

Dances, traditional music concerts and culinary recipes based on almonds are some of the activities included in the programme of the festival each year. Obviously, there’s no shortage of craft stalls and tributes to the ancient trades.

Without doubt, there’s no better way to celebrate the arrival of spring than to fully immerse yourself in the island's culture than this traditional festival after walking the Almond Blossom Trail in Tejeda.

Sources

• Tejeda City Council