SECTO

RC

AN

AR

Y ISLA

ND

S

Sinc

e 19

93 t

he M

inis

try

for

Agr

icul

ture

, Fo

od a

nd t

he

Envi

ronm

ent’s

Nat

ure

Trai

ls P

rogr

am a

ims

to r

esto

re f

or-

mer

tra

nspo

rt in

fras

truc

ture

s su

ch a

s ra

ilway

tra

cks,

catt

le

trai

ls a

nd tr

aditi

onal

rout

es, f

or p

ublic

use

and

enj

oym

ent.

Thes

e ro

utes

take

us

to th

e co

untr

ysid

e to

dis

cove

r the

bio

-di

vers

ity a

nd b

eaut

y of

our

pre

ciou

s na

tura

l her

itage

, and

di

scov

er t

he v

illag

es, s

ight

s, tr

aditi

ons

and

peop

le t

hat

are

part

of t

he u

niqu

e cu

ltura

l lan

dsca

pe o

f our

cou

ntry

.

We

invi

te y

ou t

o vi

sit

them

and

offe

r yo

u th

e ke

ys t

o en

-jo

y th

e tr

ip. I

n th

is b

roch

ure

you

will

find

a b

rief d

escr

iptio

n of

the

La G

omer

a C

oast

al N

atur

e Tr

ail a

nd th

e m

ap fo

r the

jo

urne

y, al

ong

with

reco

mm

enda

tions

to m

ake

the

mos

t of

this

exp

erie

nce.

We

only

ask

one

thi

ng o

f yo

u: d

o no

t fo

r-ge

t to

leav

e ev

eryt

hing

as

you

foun

d it.

The

con

serv

atio

n of

th

ese

path

way

s is

als

o yo

ur re

spon

sibi

lity.

NAT

URE

TRA

ILLA

GO

MER

A

CO

AST

AL

La G

omer

a is

the

seco

nd-s

mal

lest

isla

nd, a

fter

the

El H

ierr

o Is

land

, out

of a

ll se

ven

islan

ds th

at m

ake

up th

e Ca

nary

arc

hipe

-la

go. I

t was

dec

lare

d U

NES

CO W

orld

Bio

sphe

re R

eser

ve o

n 11t

h Ju

ly 2

012,

with

in t

he ‘e

xcel

lenc

e’ ca

tego

ry, t

hus

beco

min

g th

e six

th is

land

that

hol

ds th

is tit

le in

the

Cana

ry Is

land

s.

The

dist

ingu

ishin

g m

arks

of

the

La G

omer

a la

ndsc

ape

are

its

deep

gor

ges a

nd im

posin

g cl

iffs.

This

land

scap

e, w

ild a

nd u

niqu

e,

is th

e re

sult

of th

e er

osio

n th

at h

appe

ned

on th

e ol

d m

ater

ials

ac

cum

ulat

ed d

urin

g di

ffere

nt e

rupt

ive

perio

ds o

f tim

e, b

ecau

se

since

mor

e th

an tw

o m

illio

n ye

ars a

go th

e bo

wel

s of t

he is

land

s ha

ve b

een

calm

.

TELE

PH

ON

ES O

F IN

TER

EST:

•LaGom

eraRegionalGovernm

ent:

003492214

010

6

NIPO: DL:

La G

omer

a Is

land

[C

anar

y Is

land

s]

AN

ISLA

ND

SH

AP

ED B

Y T

HE

PASS

ING

OF

TIM

E

STAG

E 1: SAN

SEBA

STIÁN

DE LA

GO

MER

A - H

ERM

IGU

A

1. The 26.7 km

long first stage of the trail begins with a nice

walk around the capital San Sebastián de la G

omera.

Once the trail leaves the tow

n, the path ascends in or-der to plunge into the M

ajona nature park, a beautiful place w

ith abrupt orography. Around the half of this

stage, you will cross a dense firetree and heath forest

(fayal-brezal), and further on you will leave on the right

the Roque Garaballo. O

n the last kilometres of the sta-

ge, the cardonal-tabaibal is the main protagonist of

the vegetation surrounding the trail. The traveller will

leave, once again on the right, the path from La C

aleta to Punta de San Lorenzo, and w

ill then end this sta-ge am

ong the banana plants at the Herm

igua beach.

STAG

E 2: HER

MIG

UA

– VA

LLEHER

MO

SO B

EAC

H

2. This 15.3 km long second stage starts at H

ermigua. The

trail climbs up the hill am

ong Canary pine trees and

heathlands, until it reaches the highest area of the sta-ge, w

here the most usual vegetation is laurisilva. This

way, the trail takes the traveller to the V

isitors’ Centre

of the Garajonay N

ational Park, Juego de Bolas. After

walking for som

e kilometres, the trail encounters Las

Rosas and the namesake reservoir. A

fter crossing the re-servoir, the trail leaves on the left the beginning of the alternative stage 3.1., w

hich goes from Las Rosas until

the Chorros de Epina. Starting from

this point, the itine-rary alternates ascents and descents to overall go dow

n until the Valleherm

oso beach, end point of this stage.

STAG

E 3: VA

LLEHER

MO

SO B

EAC

H–A

LOJER

A A

3. This

stage, 15.5

kilometres

long, connects

the Valleherm

oso Beach Maritim

e Park with A

lojera. The trail m

oves around landscapes full of the most anti-

que materials in the islands, called basal com

plex. The erosion of these antique m

aterials has produced some

incredible landscapes that, together with the spec-

tacular views offered by the northern coast of the

island, make this stage a true pleasure for the senses.

STAG

E 3.1: LAS R

OSA

S – CH

OR

RO

S DE EP

INA

A

3.1.The stage 3.1 is 11.9 kilometres long, and it is an al-

ternative route for stage 2 (its last part) and stage 3. It begins at the Las Rosas reservoir and ends at C

horros de Epina. Its itinerary goes across the town

of Vallehermoso, w

here it meets the C

umbres de

la Gom

era Nature Trail. The path runs close to the

Roque Cano N

atural Monum

ent, so the traveller can contem

plate this volcanic sharp point, as well as the

Canary juniper botanic form

ations and, on higher al-titudes, the so-called m

onteverde, formed by species

such as heathers, firetrees, small-leaved hollies, etc.

STAG

E 4: A

LOJER

A – G

RA

N R

EY V

ALLEY

Y

4. This 11.1 kilom

etre long stage that connects Alojera

with G

ran Rey Valley runs across two im

portant natural areas: Lom

o del Carretón N

atural Monum

ent, imposing

basaltic ravine that separates the highland plain of the central plateau from

the lowest levels, and the G

ran Rey Valley Rural Park, the only natural area that has been given this protection status in the island. The trail runs along the m

ajestic landscapes form by alm

ost-vertical reefs and deep ravines shaped during m

illions of years.

STAG

E 5: LA C

ALER

A (G

RA

N R

EY V

ALLEY

) – LA D

AM

A

5. The route continues along the 16.5 km

of this stage, bet-w

een La Calera and La Dam

a. The trail goes pass large inclines, such as the H

arinero slope or the Argaga gorge, and also soft slopes that separate the gorges of the southern part of the island, until it reaches the tow

n of La Dam

a, w

hich is home of the largest banana croplands of the island.

STAG

E 6: LA D

AM

A – A

LAJER

Ó

6. From

La D

ama

until Alajeró,

the trail

crosses, for

12.2 kilom

etres, several

ravines and

wide

hills lined w

ith terraces and splashed with sm

all rural settle-m

ents with great traditional and cultural heritage. This

combination of elem

ents conform a harm

onious and beau-tiful landscape, typical of the southern part of La G

omera.

STAG

E 7: ALA

JERÓ

– PLA

YA D

E SAN

TIAG

O

7. The 10.5 kilom

etres of this stage run along the towns

of Alajeró

and Playa

de Santiago,

among

valleys and

hills where vast crop areas developed not long ago. The

abandonment of m

ost of these crops has transformed

the landscape of this part of the island, but the charm

of this

environment

shaped by

humans

still rem

ains.

STAG

E 8: PLA

YA D

E SAN

TIAG

O - SA

N SEB

ASTIÁ

N D

E LA

GO

MER

A

8. This last stage, 20.1 kilometres long, begins at Playa de Santiago.

During this stretch, you w

ill go through numerous ravines and

will get access to beaches w

ith great landscape value, such as El Cabrito (N

atural Monum

ent) and the Guancha beach. The

trail on this stage is witness of the abandonm

ent of agriculture in the m

any terraces, and the subsequent proliferation of the cardonal-tabaibal forest. San Sebastián de la G

omera, capital

of the island, is the end point of this last stage of the nature trail.

NATU

RE TRAIL

LA G

OM

ERA

CO

ASTA

L

CincoPalm

asgorgeheadwaters

Thefiretreeandheathforest(fayal-brezal)providesshadeinsom

epartsofthetrailTypicalgorgefloorlandscape

Gui

de t

o th

eNa

ture

Tr

ails

of S

pain

SEC

TOR

CA

NA

RY

ISLA

ND

S

Huso 28

¯Escala 1:100000

Cam

ino

Nat

ural

Cos

tas

de L

a G

omer

aM

apa

VII.

6.1

Hoj

a 1

de 9

Raster nacional 1:200.000. UTM WGS84 Huso 28

NATURE TRAILLA GOMERA

COASTAL

SECTORCANARY ISLANDS

NatureTrails

Starting point

End of trail

Rest area

Information

Monumental area

Downtown

Information panel Viewpoint

Hermitage

Natural/National Park

1

3

4

5

6

78

2

3.1

Town Beach area

Parking lot

Children’s games

Feature of environmental interest