Pino Gordo Canary Pine

The trunk is the whole story. Up close it fills your view, a column of plated red-grey bark that keeps rising after you tilt your head back, and the size only registers once you stand next to it. People link arms around it for the photograph that everyone takes here.

The tree is a Canary pine, the species that clothes the island's upper slopes, and it has stood here for centuries. Other pines grow around it, and information boards beside the trunk explain what you are looking at. Step back for at least one shot: from close up, a camera flattens the trunk and loses its height.

It sits on the way to Teide National Park, so the stop fits easily into a day on the mountain.

• There are no toilets and no drinking water at the tree, and none nearby.
• Lock the car and keep valuables with you, even if you only step over to the tree.
• Vilaflor sits high on the mountain and the air is cooler than on the coast: bring a layer.
• Read the information boards beside the trunk before the photo; they explain the tree and the pines around it.

Most people arrive by car, on the drive through Vilaflor up to or down from Teide National Park. A car park lies about 30 m from the tree in a straight line, with street parking as well, and a second car park about 530 m away takes the overflow. From the car, the walk to the trunk is over almost as soon as it starts.

The Pino Gordo bus stop is about 30 m from the tree, so the stop also works for anyone travelling by bus.

Best: in daylight, as a stop on the drive to or from Teide National Park.

Avoid: after dark.

The tree is open at all hours, but the bark, the height of the trunk and the information boards all need daylight, and the stop fits naturally into a day spent on the mountain.