Barranco de la Virgen

Protected ravine of laurel, oak and citrus orchards near Valleseco in northern Gran Canaria

Barranco de la Virgen is a ravine in the municipality of Valleseco, in the north of Gran Canaria, protected as a Natura 2000 site. Its slopes hold a remnant of the damp laurel woodland that once covered much of the island's north, with laurel and oak among the trees and birds throughout. Mountains close it in on every side, and gardens of lemons, oranges and mandarins fill the lower ground.

Canyon Hiking

Entrance: Free. The ravine is open countryside with no gate or ticket.
Accessibility: No wheelchair-accessible entrance; the ravine is reached on foot along paths.
Parking: Nearest car park about 1.2 km away in a straight line, for customers only; another about 1.5 km away.
Difficulty: Easy paths through the ravine, manageable with children.
Transport: Bus stops Cruce de Valsendero and Valsendero, about 720 m away in a straight line.
Advance booking: No booking needed.
Hours: Open at any time; walk it in daylight.
Address: Barranco de La Virgen, 35340 Valleseco, Las Palmas, Spain

What makes it special

Most of Gran Canaria is dry, brown hillside, so the first damp, green stretch of this ravine comes as a surprise. The air under the trees is cool and moist, the ground is thick with plants, and birdsong carries along the slopes.

The woodland is laurel and oak, a living fragment of the forest that once covered the island's northern uplands. Around it, the ravine is farmed: lemon, orange and mandarin trees grow in gardens below the mountains that ring the valley. That mix of wild forest and old orchards is what sets the place apart. The paths are easy, which makes it a good walk for families and for anyone with a dog.

Good to know

There are no toilets and no drinking water in the ravine or nearby. Fill your bottle before you come.
The nearest car parks are more than a kilometre away, and the closer one is for customers only.
Dogs are allowed, and the paths suit children.
There is no wheelchair-accessible entrance.
The citrus gardens are farmland. Leave the fruit on the trees.

Getting there

A car or the bus brings you as far as the hamlet of Valsendero, above the ravine. Two bus stops, Cruce de Valsendero and Valsendero, stand about 720 m away in a straight line, so from the bus the rest is a walk.

By car, the nearest mapped car park is about 1.2 km away in a straight line and is reserved for customers; the next is about 1.5 km away. Plan on walking in from either.

An information board stands about 240 m away and a guidepost about 370 m away, and they are the markers to look for on the way down to the woodland.

Best time to visit

Best: a dry, clear morning, when the birds are most active and the ravine is at its quietest.

Avoid: heavy rain and the day or two after it.

Ravine paths turn to mud in the wet, and the bed of a barranco carries water fast when a storm breaks; on the north side of the island, cloud can also settle in the valley and cut the views to the surrounding mountains.

Access & restrictions

Barranco de la Virgen is a Natura 2000 site, protected for its woodland habitat. Keep to the existing paths, leave plants, branches and flowers where they grow, and do not disturb the birds. Dogs are allowed; keep yours under control so it does not chase wildlife. The lemon, orange and mandarin gardens in the ravine are worked farmland and belong to their owners: walk past them and leave the fruit.

Sun & daylight

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