Gran Canaria Mountain Loop (107 km)
Las Palmas to Maspalomas · one way, about 107 km back to the start
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Why this ride
107 km from Las Palmas de Gran Canaria to Maspalomas, about 1 h 27 of riding. On the way it passes Teror, Tejeda, Pico de las Nieves and Fataga. The highest point is about 1,950 m. A steady touring day rather than a sprint.
Roadbook
- Las Palmas
start
Las Palmas is a city that does not look like most people's idea of a Spanish island. It is large, with nearly four hundred thousand people, it sprawls along a narrow neck of land between two seas, and it is the busiest port in the Canary Islands. The beach of Las Canteras, a long curve of sand sheltered by a reef, runs right through the city, and the old district of Vegueta, with its colonial plazas and the cathedral, recalls the days when ships bound for the Americas stopped here for water.
Columbus is said to have stopped on Gran Canaria on his first voyage in 1492, and the Casa de Colón, a museum in a beautiful old mansion, tells that story. The island is also known for its climate. Although only a day's sail from Africa, Gran Canaria enjoys mild temperatures all year thanks to the trade winds, which is why it is nicknamed the continent in miniature. Within a short ride you pass from dry southern desert to green northern forest.
That is what makes the mountain loop so good. From the city, roads climb through Arucas, with its banana plantations and a large neo-Gothic church made from dark volcanic stone, then up into the central highlands. Here the landscape turns dramatic: deep barrancos, pine forest, and the rock tower of Roque Nublo, a symbol of the island. The road to Pico de las Nieves, the island's highest point at nearly 1,950 metres, offers wide views, sometimes above a sea of cloud. Roads are narrow and twisty, with sheer drops, and the surface is usually good. Mornings can be cloudy on the north side, and the south is sunnier.
Fuel is no issue in the city or the larger towns, but up in the mountains there are few stations, so fill the tank beforehand. Take a jacket, because temperatures drop quickly with altitude. Stop at a village like Tejeda for almond sweets and coffee, and try papas arrugadas, wrinkled potatoes with spicy mojo sauce.
- Teror
scenic
Teror is the spiritual capital of Gran Canaria, and the reason is a small statue of the Virgin. According to legend, in 1481, shepherds saw a light in a pine tree, and when they climbed up, they found an image of the Virgin Mary, who became Our Lady of the Pine, the patron saint of the island. The basilica built in her honour dominates the main square, a large pale-stone church with a broad front and a carved interior, and on 8 September each year, thousands of pilgrims walk through the night to reach it for the festival, carrying gifts of fruit and flowers.
The old town around the church is the best preserved on the island, with long streets lined with traditional Canarian houses, each with a balcony of dark wood carved in intricate patterns and hung with geraniums. The wooden balconies, often painted green or brown, are what everyone photographs. The streets are quiet outside the weekend, but on Sunday mornings a market fills the square, selling vegetables, cheese, cakes and the famous Teror sausage, a soft, spiced chorizo that is a local pride. Try it on bread for breakfast.
For a rider, Teror is a pleasant mid-mountain stop on the way into the high interior. It sits at about 600 metres in a green, damp part of the island, on the edge of the northern slopes where the trade-wind clouds drop their moisture, and the land is full of ferns, banana plantations and eucalyptus. From here, the road climbs south to Valleseco and Cruz de Tejeda, in a series of bends that gain height quickly, with long views over the valleys and the sea. The surface is mostly good, but narrow and winding, with sharp corners. Traffic can be heavy on weekends, especially near the basilica, so aim to arrive early.
Teror is large enough to have fuel and supermarkets, so it is a good place to prepare for the mountain loop, where services are more scattered. There are bars around the square serving coffee and snacks, and a number of small restaurants where you can have a plate of grilled meat with wrinkled potatoes and spicy mojo sauce, the signature of Canarian cooking.
The best season is spring, when the hillsides are green and the air is fresh. Cloud often lies over the town in the morning and burns off by late morning.
- Tejeda
scenic
Tejeda sits in the crater-like bowl at the centre of Gran Canaria, with the great rock needle of Roque Nublo standing a short way to the south-west and the ancient shrine of Roque Bentayga showing on the skyline to the west. It is a white village of just over two thousand people, hung on a steep hillside at roughly a thousand metres, and it is regularly named among the loveliest in Spain for good reason.
The geology is the headline. Gran Canaria is a volcano whose old summit collapsed and eroded into a maze of deep ravines, and Tejeda lies in the middle of that landscape, with the island's high ground, including the Pico de las Nieves at nearly two thousand metres, rising around it. The sky is often brilliant, and the clouds drift in from the trade winds and get snagged on the rim, so it is common to ride out of a cold grey mist and arrive in full sun.
The roads here are the point. Tight, steep, switchbacked and often narrow, they climb to the Cruz de Tejeda viewpoint and wind down through the pine forest and the almond terraces, with big drops at the edge and views across the caldera that make you want to stop every few hundred metres. The surface is mostly good, but the corners are tight and blind, and the many tour buses and rental cars make passing a matter of patience. Be extra careful on wet mornings, when the moss and the mist can make the tar slick.
Tejeda is famous for almonds. In January and February the slopes flower white and pink, and the village sells almond sweets, marzipan and a dessert called bienmesabe, a thick almond cream that is exactly as sweet as it sounds. There are bars and small restaurants around the church square, and good coffee is never hard to find.
For fuel, do not count on a pump in the village itself; the nearest sizeable town is Vega de San Mateo, a little way east, and you should plan to fill up there before climbing. Artenara, higher up the road, is worth a detour for its cave houses carved into the volcanic rock, a way of living the islanders have used for centuries.
- Pico de las Nieves
scenic · 1949 m
At 1,949 metres, the Pico de las Nieves is the highest point on Gran Canaria, and it rises out of the middle of the island like the hub of a wheel, with deep ravines radiating in all directions to the coast. The name means Peak of the Snows, and although snow is rare, it does fall in some winters, sometimes enough to close the road and bring families up from the coast to see it. In clear weather the view takes in the whole island and, to the west, the peak of Teide on Tenerife, floating above a layer of cloud.
The island is a volcanic cone worn down by millions of years of erosion, which is why the landscape is so extreme: the inner highlands are full of sheer-sided gorges, jagged rock spires and long ridges. Not far from the peak stands the Roque Nublo, a basalt monolith about eighty metres high, which is a sacred site for the island's pre-Hispanic inhabitants and a favourite walk today. The forest on the slopes is Canary pine, a tough species with long needles that can regrow after fire and which drips with fog moisture, adding to the water supply of the island.
For riders, the roads here are the highlight of Gran Canaria. From Tejeda or San Bartolomé, the road climbs through pine forest in a series of curves, with sharp hairpins and big drops, and the views change at every turn. The surface is generally good, but narrow, with a few rough spots, and in clear weather it is a paradise. Cloud and fog can roll in quickly, however, and the temperature at the top can be much lower than on the coast. Do not be surprised to need a jacket in August. Cyclists are common, so take extra care.
San Bartolomé de Tirajana, about four kilometres away, has stations and supermarkets, and Tejeda has a couple of bars and a bakery famous for almond sweets. Tejeda blossoms with almond flowers in late January and February, when the valleys turn pink and white. The bars on the route serve strong coffee and plates of local cheese.
The weather is the main gamble. A clear morning, before cloud rises from the coast, gives the best views.
- Fataga
scenic
Fataga is a tiny village in a wide, green ravine, with palm trees at the bottom and bare hills above, and it feels like a surprise because it lies only a short ride from the tourist beaches of Maspalomas. The Fataga valley runs from the high interior of the island down toward the south coast, and the village sits partway along it, with a church, a few whitewashed houses and a cluster of restaurants that cater to the coaches that stop here. Beyond the village, the road climbs toward San Bartolomé de Tirajana through a landscape of terraces, almond trees and scattered farms.
The valley is one of the best-known routes on the island, and it has the contrast that visitors love: a dry, rocky landscape, with a thick growth of palms and prickly pear in the gorge. Almond blossom in January and February gives the slopes a soft pink glow. Not far from Fataga, an open-air museum called Mundo Aborigen presents a reconstruction of the pre-Hispanic life of the island, with replicas of caves and houses, and a small cafe. The village itself has a reputation for being slightly tourist-oriented, but it also has a quiet side if you walk up the lanes away from the main road.
The road from Maspalomas through the Fataga valley is a favourite with riders. It climbs in a series of long, easy bends, alongside a dry riverbed, with the sea behind you, and it makes a good approach to the interior. The surface is excellent and the corners are well-engineered, so it is easy to find a rhythm. Traffic includes tour buses and rental cars, which can slow things down, so choose a weekday morning if possible. The road continues to San Bartolomé, where the real mountain riding begins.
Santa Lucía and San Bartolomé, a few kilometres away, have stations and shops, and the coast has everything. The restaurants in the village serve grilled meat, goat stew and the island's wrinkled potatoes with mojo sauce, a staple that is simple and unforgettable. The cafes offer coffee and almond cakes.
Come early to avoid the buses and see the valley in clear morning light.
- Maspalomas
finish
Maspalomas is two things that do not quite match: a resort town of about thirty thousand people, and a nature reserve of dunes the size of a small desert. The dunes stretch for several kilometres along the south coast of Gran Canaria, a shifting sea of golden sand blown from the Atlantic, with a palm oasis at one end and a lighthouse, built in 1890, at the other. Camel rides carry visitors across the sand, the wind sculpts new ridges every day, and at sunrise or sunset the shadows are long and dramatic. The reserve protects a rare ecosystem, and walkers are asked to keep to marked paths.
The resort is about sun, and it works efficiently: hotels, apartment blocks, shopping centres and miles of beach, with Playa del Inglés immediately next door. The climate is a big part of the draw, with temperatures that rarely fall below eighteen degrees even in winter and a sky that is often cloudless. It does not have the soul of a village, but as a place to end a ride, it offers fuel stations, supermarkets, bike rental and any amount of food and drink. If you like a drink on a terrace by the sea at the end of a mountain run, this is the place.
The mountain loop that finishes here is a very different Gran Canaria. The island rises steeply behind the coast, with a heart of volcanic peaks, deep ravines and pine forests, and the roads climb in tight bends through villages such as Tejeda, a small whitewashed place under the huge basalt column of Roque Nublo. The highest point, Pico de las Nieves, stands at about 1,950 metres, and in winter it can wear a thin dusting of snow. The road quality is generally good, and the bends are plentiful, so it is among the best riding in the Canaries.
Weather changes quickly across the island. The south is dry and hot, while the north is cloudy and green, and the mountains can be cool, wet and misty even when the coast is sunny. Take a layer for the climb, and watch for the wind, which can be strong on exposed corners. Cyclists crowd the mountain roads on weekends, so be patient. When you reach the coast again, the warm air is a pleasant shock, and the dunes are ready to be admired in the evening light.