Pico Viejo

At the rim the crater opens at your feet, about 720 metres across — roughly seven football pitches laid end to end — with Teide's cone rising right beside it. From the summit the whole volcanic landscape of the park runs out towards the Atlantic.

The colours are what stay with you. The lava fields shift from rust and ochre to grey, and the black flows of 1798 cut through them, darker than anything else on the mountain. It is quiet up here, with only the wind for company.

The climb is honest work: a steady ascent over rock and gravel with no scrambling, on a path marked with metal plates the whole way.

• No shops, cafés or drinking water on the way up; the last are at the car park. Carry all the water you need.
• Wind and cold arrive in the last stretch below the summit, however hot it is at the start. Pack a jacket.
• Reports differ on whether trail 23 needs a national park permit. Check with Teide National Park before you set out.
• The car park at Mirador de La Ruleta, by Roques de García, fills fast. Arrive early.
• Trail 28 on the descent crosses sliding stones and sand. Wear boots with good grip.

You arrive by car at one of the park's roadside car parks and walk the rest. Pico Viejo can be climbed from the road on its west and south-west sides, from the Parador, or from Mount Teide itself.

The shortest approach from the west and south-west starts at the Mirador Narices del Teide car park, about 3.7 km in a straight line from the summit. On the Parador side, the route leaves from the car park at Mirador de La Ruleta beside Roques de García: about 14 km there and back with roughly 1,000 metres of ascent, four to five hours in all, and a path marked with metal plates over hard rock and gravel. Another way up follows trail 26 from Llano de Ucanca, then trails 3 and 23, about four hours to the top with rests.

The nearest bus stop, Teleférico del Teide, sits about 4.7 km in a straight line from the summit.

Best: an early start on a clear day outside winter.

Avoid: winter, and any late start.

The La Ruleta car park fills early and the round trip takes four to five hours on open volcanic ground with no shade at midday, while in winter slippery ice lies on the trail near the top.

Pico Viejo lies inside Teide National Park. Keep to the numbered, marked trails — trail 23 leads to the summit — and leave rocks, lava and plants where they are. Reports differ on whether trail 23 needs a park permit, so check with Teide National Park before setting out.