El Sabinar de La Dehesa – circular route

Highly recommended for the variety of natural surroundings. However, keep in mind that you will usually encounter strong winds along much of the route and fog. This wind gives the juniper forest its unique appearance. We did not complete the descent to Sabinosa.

We were woken by the loud patter of rain 🌧️ and quickly decided to wait a bit and then do a shorter hike than planned. Unfortunately, this meant missing out on the Orchilla lighthouse in the far southwest 😢, but it would have been a challenge to reach without our own car anyway. Our hike was great even without the lighthouse. 🙃 First, it was time for some work: a steep 500-meter climb. The path offered many beautiful views and more cloud forest, so it didn't seem too long or strenuous. 😅 As soon as we crossed the ridge, we were greeted by wind 🌬️ and fog 🌫️. Both soon disappeared, however, and the La Dehesa plateau stretched out before us. 🤩 If you didn't know better, you'd never guess you were in the Canary Islands. The landscape is completely different, currently lush and green in winter 💚, but otherwise quite barren with bizarrely shaped juniper trees everywhere. We visited the statue "El Pastor," the Ermita de Nuestra Señora de Los Reyes, a small church ⛪️ dedicated to the island's patron saint, and the Cueva del Caracol cave complex. The absolute highlight and one of El Hierro's landmarks, the El Sabinar juniper forest, was of course a must-see. The sabina trees 🌳 have been shaped by the wind for decades, and one particularly impressive specimen is probably one of the most popular photo spots on the island. 📷 The Mirador de Los Bascos viewpoint is unfortunately currently closed, but a few meters further on, you still have a fantastic view 👀 of El Golfo, the west coast around Frontera. Then it was time for us to slowly climb again, and if there's one thing you can count on here, it's clouds and fog as soon as you reach a certain altitude. 😝 And so it was this time too. We went back the same way we came – but this time steeply downhill. 📉

We were unlucky. La Calima covered the sun. The wind tore at our ears, it was cold and grey. The Mirador Bascos is falling apart and has been closed. Not a highlight, unfortunately.

A very beautiful, varied tour. It starts at the Santurio Nuestra Senora de los Reyes, the starting point of the Bajada. It's not far to the windswept junipers. The Mirador de Bascos is closed due to the danger of collapse. Visit at your own risk. Don't let the weather deter you on the ascent. The second part of the tour is a gnarled climb of a good 2.5 km to the Mirador Sabinosa. Bring plenty of water and walking sticks.

El Sabinar is a juniper forest, on a green plateau with many smaller volcanoes. It's not really a forest. An open area where several Sabinas grow is better. The Sabina is a juniper tree bent by the wind. The trees are pushed to the ground by the trade winds and take on bizarre shapes. The trunks are gnarled and twisted. The twisted growth is considered to be unique in the world. Actually a promising tour, but it only went a little higher through clouds.

Today I got to experience the trade winds of the Canary Islands. Right in my face. Then every step you take is just that little bit harder. Then it is nice to see how nature itself deals with it. How trees grow with the wind. Twisting in the weirdest corners and still being able to live. I am also surprised again. The green grasslands with stone walls remind me a lot of my GB Divide I rode earlier this year. The views take your breath away time and again. And the fact that you don't meet anyone at all is also special. The last part on 'the road' (wide rocky gravel path) is a bit boring, but you can look around endlessly without stumbling.