IMPORTANT: Since January 2025 it is compulsory to apply for a permit to access Roque Nublo. For its conservation, access has been limited to 60 people per hour. You can apply for it in this link (official).
If you arrive hiking on one of the adjacent trails, you are exempt from requesting a permit.
Roque Nublo is a rock formation of volcanic origin about 80 meters high. It is located in the center of the island, in the municipality of Tejeda. Its highest point is 1,813 meters above sea level and it was formed more than 10 million years ago. It was during the second cycle of volcanic eruptions, one of the three that gave origin and formation to the island.
For pre-Hispanic inhabitants of the island, the Roque Nublo was the sacred meeting place for religious rituals and to worship Acorán, the main deity of the Gran Canaria aborigines.
In 1987 it was declared a natural area and in 1994 a Natural Monument included within the Nublo rural park.
Next to Roque Nublo there are two smaller ones called El Fraile (The Friar) and La Rana (The Frog).
Hiking to El Roque
There are numerous trails to climb to the rock. The best known is the “Camino del Nublo” (path of El Nublo), just over 3 km round trip.
The trail starts from the car park that we find on the edge of the GC-600 road. It is located in a place called “la Degollada de La Goleta”, at an altitude of 1,579 metres.
IMPORTANT: the Degollada de la Goleta car park closed on 2 January 2025. We will explain how to get there later on.
The trail is all uphill (one way), relatively smooth, although it has several steeper slopes that can take a lot of effort for people in poor shape. Even so, it is a fairly simple path to walk with the whole family and it is well signposted.
Of course, wear appropriate footwear and not go in flip flops like some brave people who do not love their feet.
The vegetation that we can find along the route is, above all, the Canarian pine (Pinus canariensis) with which the area was repopulated between the 40s and 50s of the 20th century.
The rest of the vegetation is made up of thickets such as the yellow broom, the white sage or the wallflower of the summit, among other species.
Shortly after the middle of the road we have a path that can hardly be seen that leads to the base of the friar.
Shortly after we have one of the very hard slopes, it is almost a wall, but it is very short. It goes up to the Degollada del Roque Nublo, at 1,709 meters high.
At the end of the climb we take a little air to take the last arreón to the plateau where the Roque Nublo and La Rana are located.
We climb the last hill and, finally, we are at the base of the rock.
The landscape from here is a real wonder.
The rock can be skirted but it is very dangerous.
Here we end our visit to the spectacular Roque Nublo. We start the way down again slowly so as not to fall.
How to get to Roque Nublo
From Las Palmas de Gran Canaria we take the GC-23 ring road. We take exit 8 towards Vegueta / Tafira / Telde / Airport, entering the GC-3.
About 7 km later we take exit 4 towards the GC-4 motorway towards Tafira.
At the end of the GC-4, at the roundabout we take the first exit onto the GC-15 towards La Atalaya / Santa Brígida. Here the curves begin.
About 18 kilometers later we have to take the detour to the GC-600 road towards Cueva Grande / Pico de las Nieves / Roque Nublo.
The car must be left in one of the two car parks. These car parks are located in the village centre of Tejeda and Cruz de los Llanos. From here we can take the shuttle bus every 30 minutes from 9.30 am to 6.00 pm.
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