Jump Travel Information

While on your holidays to Tenerife in the Canary Islands, be sure to visit the Mount Teide National Park. At 3,718 meters high, Mount Teide is the highest peak in all of Spain and the entire Atlantic Ocean. The unusual name of Mount Teide is derived from the Spanish form of the original Gaunche name for the mountain of ‘Echeyde’ or’ Echeide’ which roughly translates into ‘Hell”. Christopher Columbus reportedly saw the last major eruption of Mount Teide in 1492 en route to the Americas.

The sheer size and mass of Mount Teide is hard to describe without seeing it firsthand. The 12 million cubic meters of volcanic material that has been extruded over the years is hard to visualize. To give this massive volcano some degree of scale you need to realize that the caldera alone is an incredible 17 kilometres across.

The 18,990 hectare Mount Teide National Park is surrounded by the 46,613 Corona Forestal Nature Park, creating the largest Nature Park in the Canary Islands. Established in 1954, the Park contains a wide variety of natural flora and fauna, some of which can be found nowhere else in the world. The Park contains numerous hiking trails and the outdoor adventurer can spend an unlimited amount of time exploring this vast wilderness.

The visitor’s centre, at the park’s entrance, has information on the trails, including free guided hikes, and issues permits for hikers wanting to journey to the very top of Mount Teide. Only a limited number of permits are issued daily, so call ahead for a permit. For the less adventuresome there is a cable car that will take you to within 163 meters of the peak (where the permits are required). The views from this vantage point are unbelievable and well worth the time and effort to get there.

For more details or holiday ideas on Tenerife I recommend onthebeach.co.uk, they will help you find a great holiday deal to see Mount Teide and the other sights on Tenerife in the Canary Islands.