Best Secret Side Roads of Gran Canaria Part 1: Hoya Pineda, Artenara, San Nicolás

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Embark on this wild journey to discover the best secret side roads of Gran Canaria!
We start this trip by taking the highway GC2 from Las Palmas towards the northshore which starts only a 2 min drive from our Hostel. At the village El Puertillo, the highway ends for 10 km and you will be driving a smaller road passing by many surfspots between El Puertillo and El Roque. At El Roque we take the small side road “Carretera de la Costa” towards the Caves of Cenobio el Valerón. From there, you will be able to enjoy breathtaking views over the whole epic northshore, a true paradise for advanced surfers – with in the background the skyline of Las Palmas popping out.

View over the north shore of Gran Canaria, full of surf spots for experienced surfers!

After that, we get back towards the highway GC and drive until the exit of Hoya Pineda. From there on, we will start climbing up the epic GC-220 into mountains and stop at the first viewpoint a bit above Hoya Pineda Cave Village to enjoy the amazing views to the Volcano-shaped mountain of Galdar, which was the first capital of Gran Canaria, in times before the spanish army invaded the island.

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Hoya Pineda Cave Village and the old capital of Gáldar in the background

Then, we will pass by green lush and smooth mountains that could remind you of Ireland; sheeps everywhere, bees buzzing and the temperature slightly getting fresher.

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Green Hills and sheeps around the cave village Hoya Pineda

Just a bit after the village Fagajesto we recommend you to turn now right into the GC-217 side road to enjoy the stunning and vertical views over one of the most beautiful valleys of Gran Canaria: El Valle de Agaete!

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Dizzy vertical view down into the Valley of Agaete

We follow the winding road passing by the artificial lake of Presa de los Perez and enter the magic and historical valley of Barranco Hondo. Before spanish invasion it was one of the most dense populated valleys of Gran Canaria. Due to the abundance of water, isolated, but still accesible location (safe from pirate attacks) this area produced a majority of the food for more than 40,000 canarians that already lived here before the spanish unleashed their violence and oppression over the local population.

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Terraces of Barranco Hondo – Unesco World Heritage

This area is a part of UNESCO Cultural World Heritage since 2019. Due to its countless man-made terraces, the landscapes might remind some of you of Asian rice fields or lanscapes in Peru. It’s truely a remarkable sight to see the hard work of generations that shaped the landscape in a respectful and harmonic way!

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Different view of the lush Valley of Barranco Hondo – in the background, the even higher mountains of Artenara

A true insider info is to even take smaller roads like the GC-223 and enter even deeper into this spectacular and peculiar landscape full of canarian history. Take your time to stop at one of the viewpoints and soak in the peaceful scenery. For the most creative of you, it will be easy to imagine how thousands of canarian aborigenes worked on the fields and lived in harmony with nature – a life totally disconnected from the outer world (except the unfriendly and occasional pirate attacks).

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View of the countless man-made terraces of Barranco Hondo

After a few hours of driving our first big stop will be the cave village of Artenara. We recommend you strongly to enjoy some delicious vegan food at “Arte Gaia Restaurant“, locals with a big heart and very friendly genuine atmosphere!

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View from Mesa Acusa towards Roque Bentaiga and Roque Nublo – places of worship for old canarian culture

After filling your stomach with some healthy food, how about filling your brain with some knowledge about ancient canarian culture? The next warm recommendation is to visit the quite-new Museum about the “Risco Caido” Cave, which is like the star cave of this historic area and the main reason why they became a part of Unesco. Let yourself surprise and astonished why! It is called Centro de Interpretación del Paisaje Cultural de Risco Caido.

After Artenara, you have several options on how to continue your day trip. You could either go south or north. This day, we decided to go north and drive down the deep canyons towards the village and valley of San Nicolás.

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Contrasts – the valley down to San Nicolás: reminding landscapes of Pakistan

The winding roads and deep canyons might make you feel dizzy and we garantee you that you will be surprised about the contrast in landscape compared to what you have seen in the morning. Deep, dry canyons that turn into wild rivers and wonderful waterfalls after the rainfall (Soon, we are going to publish a secret hiking trail into one of the side valleys of this area to discover a pristine landscape that will touch your soul).

Once arrived to San Nicolas, you could either visit the small stone beach of this village with calm waters to swim or continue your trip along the steepcoast of Anden Verde with your last stop at the wild beach of El Risco – the perfect spot for Sunset and for watching the big waves hitting the black-sanded beach (only with low tide, with high tide, it’s stones) again and again. Due to the strong currents, swimming is only recommended for sporty and careful people!

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Wild beach of El Risco – paradise for nature lovers!

And if this was not enough for you, the end of the day will offer you a drive along the highest cliff of Europe, passing by under the sacred mountain of Faneroque which falls straight down into the Atlantic ocean for more than 1000 vertical meters. (in another article, we will tell you how to hike down to the isolated beach of Faneroque).

After this daytrip you will return very tired but also happy to the hostel, to sleep like canarian angels in our comfortable bunk beds with curtains and surrounded by the sound of the waves of Las Canteras Beach! 🙂