palms, canes and cardón. Pass two bridges, the second one having a map-board and signpost at El Rumbazo. Ruta 24 turns right, while Ruta 23 continues along the road to Playa de Santiago. To climb to Targa and Alajeró, see Walk 5.
Follow the road up to a junction near Taco, keeping straight ahead downhill. The scenery becomes cluttered with pylons, telegraph poles, water pipes and a sprawling stone-works. Reach a junction with a main road near a tunnel, and walk straight ahead along a road marked ‘no entry’ to pass bananas. A couple of shops and a bus shelter lie at the end of the road at Laguna de Santiago. Turn right along the road, Paseo de La Laguna, which leads through banana plantations onto the Promenade Avenida Maritima through Playa de Santiago. The resort offers a full range of services and facilities. Apartments, pensión, banks with ATMs, post office, shops, bars, restaurants, buses and taxis. Tourist information office, tel 922 895 650.
The little village of Imada is tucked away at the head of the rugged Barranco de Guarimar
Optional ascent to Imada
This is 5km (3 miles) shorter than the main route, but it climbs over 300m (985ft). Leave Benchijigua via Ruta 24, along a track that usually has a chain across. Follow it gently downhill and then as it levels out. Keep right at a junction then bend left across a streambed in a small valley full of palms. Watch for a narrow, well-trodden path off to the right, opposite an old house. The path runs level, turns a corner and descends a little, crossing a streambed. Climb past a couple of palms and turn round a corner to see one last caseta. Continue along the path, passing a few more palms in a little side-valley.
The path zigzags up a steep, scrubby, rocky slope, well engineered, but rough and narrow. Follow it faithfully to reach a rugged gap at 833m (2733ft), where the village of Imada is seen at the head of the Barranco de Guarimiar. Go straight across the gap as marked, turn right and contour above a few ruined houses. Cross a streambed in a valley at Lasadoy, zigzag up bare rock and turn a corner on red rock. Imada comes into view again.
Contour across the slope to reach a building, then descend and watch for markers while passing between terraces around the head of the barranco. Pass houses to reach a road-end in Imada where a number of signposted paths can be accessed. The Bar Cafeteria Arcilia is available, with a map-board nearby. Catch a bus to Alajeró and Playa de Santiago, or link with Walk 5.
WALK 5
Pajarito to Playa de Santiago
| Start | Pajarito, Alto de Garajonay |
| Finish | Playa de Santiago |
| Alternative finishes | Alajeró or Antoncojo |
| Distance | 15.5km (9½ miles) |
| Total ascent | 75m (245ft) |
| Total descent | 1450m (4760ft) |
| Time | 4hr |
| Terrain | Some good tracks and paths, but also steep and rugged paths. Most of the route is downhill, but the optional ascent is a very steep climb. |
| Refreshments | Bar at Imada. Plenty of choice in Playa de Santiago. Bars at Alajeró on the optional route. |
| Transport | Buses serve Pajarito from San Sebastián and Valle Gran Rey. Buses from Playa de Santiago serve San Sebastián, Alajeró and Valle Gran Rey. |
| Note | Route uses GR131, Ruta 19 and Ruta 24, with an option to follow Ruta 20 |
This route starts high among fire-damaged laurisilva forest on Alto de Garajonay and heads down to Imada. The splendidly scenic Barranco de Guarimiar can be followed down to El Rumbazo for Playa de Santiago, although there is an option to climb instead to the villages of Targa and Alajeró.
Start at a roundabout at Pajarito, high on the forested slopes of Alto de Garajonay, over 1350m (4430ft), where there is a bus shelter, small parking space and a map-board. Look for a signpost for the GR131, for San Sebastián. The plain and obvious track leads to more signs, where a path on the left climbs 65 log steps to a rocky summit. Pass a bench and follow the path up and down more flights of log steps on the roller-coaster crest of Montaña de las Negrinas. There is always a road to the left but it is seldom seen. Land on a track and turn right as signposted for Imada, descending gently through tall laurisilva. Keep straight ahead at a junction, where the Roque de Agando is seen to the left. Climb onto a rocky knoll to the left of the track at Isique for a view down to Playa de Santiago.
Walk past a sign for Imada and keep straight ahead down the track. Reach a bend and keep straight ahead, gently up a path signposted for Imada. Rise, fall, and pass a notice for the Reserva Natural Integral Benchijigua. Drift right, away from the main valley, across a slope dominated by cistus below Montaña de Juan Romo. Descend rugged stone steps into a valley of lush and varied scrub, with plenty of tagasaste. Reach a rocky edge and turn right to cross a streambed, picking up a path rising gently on the other side.
Cross a slope of agaves, cistus, tabaibal and verode, turning a rocky corner for a sudden view of Imada at the head of the Barranco de Guarimar. The path crosses the scrubby slope, with lots of prickly pears at the top, tagasaste later, then agaves and palms further down. Wind down and cross bare rock in a streambed, climbing stone steps to leave it. Walk along a terrace, then down paved steps to a road-end. Walk down the steep and bendy road, through a bouldery cutting, to reach the Bar Cafeteria Arcilia in Imada. The route can be finished, after only 5km (3 miles), by catching a bus to Playa de Santiago.
Looking from the forested crest near Pajarito to El Teide on Tenerife
Walk down the road as signposted for Playa de Santiago, levelling out beside a small sports pitch. Turn left down steps, then right along a road to pass the Ermita de Santa Ana. Follow the road onwards, and while flights of steps descend to the left, only one of them is signposted. A stone-paved path, jointly used by Rutas 20 and 24, runs down through the Barranco de Guarimiar. Cross terraces and pass a ruin. Huge boulders lie on slopes where palms and almonds grow. The path runs down a soft band of rock then drops down smooth, bare rock, continuing along the valley side to pass an upstanding dyke. Turn a crumbling corner and look back to Imada for the last time.
Don’t follow a level, easy path, but turn left down a winding, rocky path. Later, exploit a soft, red layer, heading downhill, uphill and across a rock-face, beneath an overhang. Next, a soft, yellow/creamy layer of rock leads steeply down across cliffs. A rugged path leads to a broken water channel; the path drops down a slope of agaves, prickly pears, tabaibal, verode and cistus. After following the path round a corner and further along its rugged course, palms grow on the way round a side-valley. Cross over and climb as marked, passing between houses to reach a track that leads down to a signpost. The track offers a quick exit if needed.
Climb a narrow path signposted for El Rumbazo and Playa de Santiago. Cross a steep and rugged slope, passing
