Barranco de Masca — Attraction in Buenavista del Norte

One of Tenerife's iconic hiking trails and a must for any keen hiker.  Barranco de Masca is a trail that descends steeply from the small village of Masca through a winding narrow gorge to the sea about 700m below.  The hike is fairly tough and typically takes between 4-7 hours round trip, but the hiker gets to experience a unique and incredible landscape, interesting flora and fauna and have the satisfaction of completing an iconic hiking trail.

IMPORTANT:  If you wish to hike Barranco de Masca you MUST plan in advance. For environmental and safety reasons access to the trail is strictly controlled by the Canarian authorities.  So to hike the trail you need a permit.

Permits are free, but are in high demand, so difficult to get and in fact most of the time the website shows no available permits.

Permits are ONLY available for Saturdays, Sundays and Bank holidays.

Permits have strict starting times between 8:30 and 11:30.  You MUST arrive at the visitor centre at least 30 minutes before your allotted start time, to sign-in, be checked for appropriate clothing, footwear, water,  equipment, etc. and to receive the safety briefing and be given a safety helmet (because of rockfall risk in the gorge).

The other complication is that the trailhead is in the village of Masca which is not easily accessible by car.  The access road to Masca is very windy, narrow and with large drops and parking in Masca is extremely limited and controlled.

I had a hire car and was based in Los gigantes and the easiest way I found to get to Masca was to drive to Santiago del Teide, park there and take the short 15 minute (mini-)bus ride down to Masca (which is an adventure in itself!) Buses are semi-frequent but were busy and in high demand (I got the last seat on the way down).

Another thing to note is that access to the sea at the bottom of the trail is also strictly controlled.  In the past people could hike to the bottom of the trail and get a ferry to e.g. los gigantes but as of the time of writing this was not an option and you must hike back out to the top of the gorge.

If you're not lucky enough to get a permit to hike the gorge trail (Barranco de Masca) the village of Masca is definitely worth visiting in its own right. And there is a fabulous ~3hr hike from Santiago del Teide to Masca (one-way)...

It is a beautiful place but it's getting worse. We are residents on Tenerife, working and living in Spain for 14 years. This is why I think it is getting worse: Originally this experience used to allow visitors just to descent, than it was possible to take a ferry that would take you to Puerto de Santiago. On the way you could admire dolphins and Los Gigantes. It was friendly for older people that not necessary can climb up again (like my parents) but would love to experience this track. Now this is not possible and you have to turn back at the beach and climb up again. Another thing - helmets, I understand it's for safety etc. but there are many more trails that are way more demanding and do not require helmets. IMO they should only be required in certain spots (narrow passages etc.) that could be tagged by a sign. They remove half of the joy and also during the heat they just make you feel less comfortable and make people sweat. Now even more: access is now permitted only during weekends that means that it is almost impossible to find a slot at all, and I am a person living on the Island, if you travel to Tenerife it means booking it weeks in the advance, and if your flight is delayed or changed, you might miss it. IMO is just poor management, not really visitor friendly, I get the restrictions, and safety but all that can be done better. Also mind some of those trials can be closed due to rain warning as well. Once, we were turned back cause it became cloudy, ofc there was no rain in the end but if your stay is short you won't get a chance repeating it. All these factors make the whole experience (especially the booking part) extremely stressful. Still, don't get me wrong, it is one of the most beautiful places on the Island. BTW. be mindful the parking nearby is only allowed for very short period of time as they want people to depend on buses, which makes weekend access and booking specific time even more ridiculous....Unless you want to pay for a taxi (see what they did there...). Unfortunately I can see this becoming a trend on the islands...not only on Tenerife which...

If you like hiking, make sure to visit the Masca Gorge Trek. You can start in the village of Masca and go down to the sea, or you can go from the sea and up to the village. The trek is 5.6 km long. If you start from the beach you will walk uphill all the way (about 625 metres of elevation).

To start from the beach you have to get there by boat. There are daily shuttle boats from Los Gigantes, make sure to take note of the timetable if you're going back with the boat.

We took a guided tour from Puerto de la Cruz. So we drove with bus to Masca Village, trekked down the Gorge to the beach, took the shuttle boat to Los Gigantes and back to Puerto de la Cruz with the bus. The whole thing costed 50 EUR per person. Also included in the price was some fruit to eat on the trek and a small meal on the shuttle boat. We got picked up at the hotel at 08:30 and was back around 17:30. The trek down the gorge took 4 hours and 10 minutes. You can strip away an hour, maybe two, if you do the trek without a guide and a group. When walking with a guided group things go slower, but you might also learn a thing or two along the way and maybe see a few points of interest that are easy to overlook when walking on your own.

The trek have a few difficult parts, and if it rains or if the ground or your shoes are wet, then it can be really slippery on several locations, so remember to bring good shoes made for hiking/trekking. Also, every 200 metre along the trek there are small signs with a number, if you get in trouble and are in need of assistance remember to inform which number you are closest to, this will help rescuers to get to you as fast as possible. Example: The number 48 on a yellow sign means that you are 4.8 km from Masca Village and 800 metres from the beach (which has the number 56).

The trek is suitable for both young and old, but if you don't have much hiking experience it might be a smart choice to go for a...