Anaga Rural Park

Anaga Rural Park is a mountainous nature reserve at the northeastern tip of Tenerife, covering the Anaga Massif over roughly 140 km². The park spans three municipalities — Santa Cruz de Tenerife, San Cristóbal de La Laguna, and Tegueste — forming a rugged natural barrier that separates the island's capital from the rest of its coastline.

What is Anaga Rural Park?

It is a protected area established in 1987 as part of the network of natural spaces of the Canary Islands. Its core consists of heavily eroded volcanic terrain dating back 7 to 9 million years, making it one of the oldest geological formations on Tenerife. The landscape is shaped by steep ridges, deep ravines (barrancos), and small mountain hamlets scattered across the slopes, many still reached only by narrow, winding roads.

Why is Anaga so ecologically significant?

The heart of the park is its laurel forest (laurisilva) — a subtropical cloud forest where laurel trunks and branches are draped in thick moss and lichen, sustained by moisture carried in from the Atlantic by the trade winds. This forest type, once widespread around the Mediterranean, survives in Europe mainly in pockets like Anaga. As a result, the park hosts the highest concentration of endemic species in Europe, and in terms of geological and biological uniqueness it is second on Tenerife only to Teide National Park. In 2015, UNESCO designated Anaga a Biosphere Reserve.

What is the history of the area?

Before the arrival of Spanish colonisers, the Anaga Massif was inhabited by the Guanches, the indigenous people of Tenerife. Its rugged, hard-to-reach terrain has for centuries served mainly as grazing land, and the villages scattered across its slopes remained isolated from the rest of the island for a long time, preserving a traditional, rural pattern of settlement that is still visible today.

What can visitors do in the park?

Anaga is one of Tenerife's premier hiking destinations, with a dense network of trails winding through ravines, mountain ridges, and stretches of cloud forest, linking small villages and viewpoints with sweeping ocean panoramas. Because of the terrain and local microclimate, many routes require proper preparation, and weather conditions can change quickly with altitude.

Frequently asked questions

Where is Anaga Rural Park located? In the northeastern part of Tenerife, across the municipalities of Santa Cruz de Tenerife, San Cristóbal de La Laguna, and Tegueste.

When was the park established? The area was protected in 1987 and was designated a UNESCO Biosphere Reserve in 2015.

What sets Anaga apart from Tenerife's other parks? Its laurel forests hold the highest number of endemic species in Europe, and its volcanic rock formations are among the oldest on the island, dating back 7–9 million years.

Who lived in the area before colonisation? The Guanches, the indigenous people of the Canary Islands, who used the region mainly as grazing land.