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WALK 1

Pico del Inglés to Valleseco

Start	Pico del Inglés
Finish	La Quebrada or Valleseco, near Santa Cruz
Distance	7km or 9km (4½ or 5½ miles)
Total Ascent	30m (100ft)
Total Descent	960m (3150ft)
Time	3hrs
Terrain	Mostly good paths and mostly downhill, but occasionally rugged. The final stretch is on a road.
Refreshment	Bars at Valleseco.
Transport	Occasional buses from La Laguna to Pico del Inglés. Regular buses from Valleseco to Santa Cruz.
Waymarked route(s)	Route uses PR TF 2.

The ‘English Peak’ can be reached by bus. A relatively straightforward route runs down to Valleseco in the suburbs of Santa Cruz. The lush laurisilva forest on the mountains gives way to scrub more suited to arid conditions further downhill, as the route drops into a deep barranco.

There are occasional buses to Pico del Inglés, around 1000m (3280ft) high, and if these are not convenient, other buses pass 1km (½ mile) from a car park and mirador near the summit. Despite nearby masts there are splendid views of the Anaga peninsula, the urban sprawl of Santa Cruz and La Laguna, with El Teide rising beyond. Gran Canaria lies out to sea. The peak was named after a visitor who fell to his death; only he wasn’t an Englishman, but an Austrian.

From the Pico del Inglés car park a signpost for Valleseco points down a short flight of steps. Turn left and right past a derelict building; then the path is often worn to bedrock on a slope of laurisilva woodland. Keep ahead at a junction, along the clearest path, flashed yellow/white. Occasional views to either side reveal that the route is along a rocky crest, rising and falling. There is a sudden view of the urban sprawl and the path swings left. Stone-paved zigzags give way to a zigzag groove on the slopes of Cabezo del Viento, where forest and scrub vie for dominance. Watch for markers to pass a little house.

The path drops and then climbs round a steep hollow where there are lots of aloes among the scrub. Join another path and turn left up to a gap where a few houses, Casas de los Berros, stand either side. Cross the gap and go down the other side, traversing before winding down past a big eucalyptus tree. Pass little plots and cross a river, heading downstream and passing a little white house while crossing the barranco from side to side.

The Roque de Agua is seen on the way down from Pico del Inglés

Make a slight rising traverse, then wind down and cross the Barranco de Valleseco back and forth again, passing a concrete aqueduct. Cross the barranco later and pass a bridge carrying another aqueduct, spanning an impressive narrow rock gorge. Cross again well below the bridge, then back again. Pass stoutly-walled plots and cross yet again. Pass more plots and keep left below a house. Cross the river a couple more times, pass a ramshackle house, then see lots more houses straggling down through the barranco ahead. Follow the rugged path and join a concrete road beneath a concrete aqueduct. The road offers rapid onward progress, but the path slices up to the right and comes down later, beside a map-board and signpost.

In wet weather waterfalls can be seen at intervals through the Barranco de Valleseco

Continue down the road, crossing two bridges and passing bus stops at La Quebrada. Unless a bus is due, keep walking down the road through Valleseco, passing sports facilities and bars. Reach a junction with a very busy coastal road where there are plenty of buses to and from Santa Cruz.