Are you looking for a new hiking route? The Fuente de los Azulejos in Gran Canaria is one of the most beautiful and surprising natural routes on the Canary Island.
Traveling through these colorful mountains, you will not only enjoy doing a route of medium-low difficulty in Los Azulejos de Veneguera, but the landscape of this part of Gran Canaria will leave you open-mouthed due to its wonderful views.
Fuente de los Azulejos in Gran Canaria
The Los Azulejos de Veneguera trail is not the best known one in Gran Canaria, and it doesn’t have the popularity of the Caldera de Bandama or the enchanting route along the Ruta de las Presas. However, the Fuente de los Azulejos is a true spectacle of nature full of bright colors that is worth visiting, if you are looking for an alternative of what to do in Gran Canaria.
Located between the municipalities of Mogán and the Aldea de San Nicolás, Fuente de los Azulejos in Gran Canaria receives its name from the inhabitants due to the impressive resemblance of its colored slopes to the tiled walls full of tiles.
For a few years, the Fuente de los Azulejos was declared an Asset of Geological Interest by the Geomining Technological Institute of Spain due to the immense amount of ignimbrites that it houses inside (igneous stone of volcanic origin).
Fuente de los Azulejos formation
The vivid colors panorama in the Fuente de los Azulejos in Gran Canaria is similar to an artist painting with brush strokes on the mountain. But this natural setting is not the result of any “virtuous artist”.
A series of erosions in these mountains have revealed multiple geological layers of various striking colors, whose chemical composition was altered by hydrothermal fluids and the constant eruptions of the Tejeda Volcano. In this way, the minerals tinted in bluish, green, ocher and reddish tones were discovered. They are called ignimbrites, better known as burning stones.
The singularities of the Fuente de los Azulejos in Gran Canaria are, in more technical words, pyroclastic deposits, which went through a process of cooling and subsequent solidification, managing to form that variety of tones so remarkable in the layers of the mountains.
How to get to the Source of tiles?
If you are thinking of visiting Fuente de los Azulejos in Gran Canaria, you need to take the G-200 road, which connects the municipalities of Mogán and the Aldea de San Nicolás. From this road you can see from the car the immensity of the area of the colorful slopes. You can take the route by car from the well-known Playa del Puerto de Mogán, which will take you about 30 minutes to reach the Azulejos de Veneguera.
However, you can also take the route from the tourist town of Maspalomas and take some time before to visit its paradisiacal Dunes. This drive from Maspalomas to the Fuente de los Azulejos is a bit longer and will take you approximately 40 minutes.
For those who do not plan to rent a car, they have the option of arriving by public transport. Both bus or guagua lines 38 and 86 (as the local inhabitants call the bus) leaving from Puerto Mogán take you to the colorful mountains of Gran Canaria.
Hiking through the colored mountains of Gran Canaria
Before embarking on the route of the Azulejos de Veneguera you should know that this natural environment can also be traveled from other alternative routes such as Artenara, Tejeda and Pinar de Tamadaba, but in this article we want to recommend the route that starts from the crossing of the G -200 until reaching the Degollada de la Aldea.
This natural point is for many the ideal starting point for the route through the Fuente de los Azulejos in Gran Canaria. Climbing up this first section has a moderate difficulty. Several sections can be hard, so you must be sure of traveling safe with the help of good footwear.
When you pass the Degollada de la Aldea section, you will have a direct view of the Aldea de San Nicolás. As soon as you reach the highest point you will find the Cruz del Viso. A curious fact is that if you take a small detour you can get to see such emblematic natural monuments of the island as Roque Nublo and Mount Teide.
If you decide not to take that small detour, then you should continue your way through the Cruz de Viso and enter the pine forest. You’ll have to walk until you reach the Inagua Natural Reserve. During this tour you can have direct access to views of the mysterious Güi-Güi Beach and the Tasarte ravine.
Then the somewhat winding descent will reach the Fuente de los Azulejos in Gran Canaria. At the end of the route you can see a ravine and the striking colors of the mountains.
This entire route from the Degollada de la Aldea to the Azulejos de Veneguera consists of 16 km in length, which will take approximately 6 hours. Therefore, we suggest you bring provisions and hydrate yourself well. Don’t forget that!
Where to stay in Gran Canaria?
Would you dare to take this route through the Fuente de los Azulejos in Gran Canaria and its surroundings? If the answer is yes, then you are going to need a place to stay during your stay on the Canary Island.
At Lopesan Group we have some of the best hotels in Gran Canaria, where we will be delighted to make you feel at home.
