Seven natural wonders of Gran Canaria

Don't forget your camera nor hiking boots when packing for your Gran Canaria holiday. For there are kilometres and kilometres of unspoiled greenery to explore beyond the resorts. There are also non-green protected spaces closer to the beaches than you'd imagine. Here, in alphabetical order, are seven full of wonder you'll want to wander.

Barranco de Azuaje

Barranco de Azuaje

Follow a camino real (royal pathway) through this beautiful ravine which bisects the municipalities of Firgas and Moya. This hikers' paradise takes its name from one Francisco de Azuaje, a sugar baron. The Azuajes were Genoese merchants who by the first half of the 15th century, before the Spanish conquest, controlled more than half of all exports leaving Gran Canaria.

Barranco de Guayadeque 

Barranco de Guayadeque

You'll find this particular ravine further south. It divides neighbouring Agüimes and Ingenio, two of the great eastern municipalities. This is the area where the majority of archaelogical discoveries unearthing canarii artefacts have been made, so you'll definitely be walking in the footsteps of the founding fathers of Gran Canaria here.

Caldera de los Marteles

Caldera de los Marteles

Make a day trip by combining a visit to this cauldron with one to the nearby Barranco de Guayadeque. And prove your boots were made for walking Gran Canaria by navigating this hollow which remained after the central part of a volcano collapsed after an eruption up to 100,000 years ago. The Caldera de los Marteles is easily reached by turning off the main road between Telde and Pico de las Nieves.

Dunas de Maspalomas

Dunas de Maspalomas

The Canary Islands may be Spanish politically, but geographically they're indisputably African. The Maspalomas dunes, for example, do a mean impersonation of the Sahara desert. It's a cliche, but that's because it's true, that the eastern islands of Fuerteventura, Gran Canaria, and Lanzarote have more sandy beaches than the western islands of Tenerife province because the wind can only carry the grains from the Sahara so far.

Los Tilos de Moya

Los Tilos de Moya

Doramas was the name of one of the great canarii warriors who nobly resisted the Spanish occupation, only to die a martyr for his cause. It was also the name of the forest which stretched across the north of the island, decimated, like the canarii, by the Iberian invasion force. Los Tilos de Moya is the largest surviving area of this woodland.

Parque Natural de Pilancones

Parque Natural de Pilancones

This San Bartolomé de Tirajana nature reserve spans an area of 7,940 hectares. Prepare for an onslaught of natural air freshener as there's a greater concentration of pine trees in this natural park than anywhere else on the island. Life's rather more than a beach on Gran Canaria.

Parque Natural de Tamadaba

Parque Natural de Tamadaba

Easily accessible from the Valle de Agaete, home to tropical fruit plantations, in the north-west of Gran Canaria, you can ascend to great heights in Tamadaba. Which affords you excellent views over neighbouring Tenerife as well as the iconic Roque Nublo. Isn't it great to go up in the world, if only for a while?