Montana Roja

From the top the whole south-west corner of Lanzarote opens up in a full circle: Playa Blanca spread out below, the shell of an abandoned hotel, the coastline running away in both directions, and on a clear day Fuerteventura across the strait. The path carries on around the rim, and another drops down into the crater.

Down on the floor, in the one patch where anything grows, a mound of stones sits inside a ring of more stones. A metal plaque bolted to a rock reads: “The question ‘why?’ will remain unanswered.” It remembers Barbara Paton, who came from Northern Ireland to retire in Playa Blanca at the foot of the mountain and died in 2011. Her family built the cairn. It is a quiet thing to come across inside a volcano.

• No toilets or drinking water at the mountain, and none nearby. Fill up before you start.
• The slope has no shade, and the climb is sheltered from the wind, so it gets hot quickly.
• Wear trainers or walking shoes: the trail is unpaved volcanic gravel.
• Allow 25–35 minutes from the start of the trail to the top, or about an hour if you set off from the Playa Blanca seafront.

Montaña Roja rises straight behind Playa Blanca, and you can walk up from town: from the seafront to the top takes about an hour. From the start of the trail itself it is 25 to 35 minutes of steady climbing.

Drivers have two car parks, about 890 and 915 m away in a straight line. The nearest bus stops, Bajo Los Riscos and Natura Palace, sit about 770 and 790 m away. Whichever way you arrive, the last stretch is on foot up the open slope.

Best: early morning, before the sun gets onto the slope. Avoid: the middle of the day, above all in summer. The climb is sheltered from the wind and the hillside has no shade, so the heat builds fast once the sun is high.