Teide National Park – Portillo to Montaña Negra and Blanca

One of my absolute favorite Tenerife routes runs through the heart of the Teide National Park heading up towards the volcano along the edge of a high altitude plateau. Meandering through a lunar landscape, it passes the rugged La Fortaleza rock formation and several minor, ancient volcanic peaks on perfect flow trails that are moderately technical over short stretches The run combines perfect length and elevation gain in the dry, thin air where the sun tends to shine, even if the north of the island is shrouded in fog. (The first photo shows the majestic Teide popping above dense mist, when driving along the amazing TF-24 ridge-line road on a cloudy day.)

From the El Portillo visitor center a well-maintained, level trail quickly leaves the busy botanical garden behind and leads to La Fortaleza, a rocky ridge right at the edge of the volcanic plateau, at the base of the highest peak on the island. Strikingly, dense pine forest stretches right up to the plateau’s fringe, where trade winds cease to carry moisture from the Atlantic Ocean and the barren lava-highlands begin.

Dense, alien-looking shrubs cover the ground as the ascent past Montaña Negra begins on a gravelly, narrow trail on the most technical stretch of the loop. The trail soon gets easier on soft gravel, but the climb steeper as it gains roughly 600 meters in elevation towards the white peak of Montaña Blanca.

At the base of the ascent to the peak of Mount Teide, my route circles back on a stunningly fast, downhill flow-trail to El Portillo. The fog tried to battle its way up the mountain on the day I ran, which made for a surreal experience heading down into a featureless abyss full of bizarre shapes.