4 km canyon between basaltic walls of 400m, from the village of Masca to a black pebble beach accessible only by sea. One-way descent: 2h30 to 3h30.
⚠️ Access restructured since December 2025: Mandatory permit (~41€, helmet provided + insurance included), reservation on caminobarrancodemasca.com. Trail open Wednesday to Saturday only, 30-min time slots starting at 8:30 AM (25 places per slot). Private vehicle access prohibited — bus 355 from Santiago del Teide mandatory (proof of journey required at entrance). Return boat (~25€) to book separately.
The cliffs are 400 meters high, basalt stacked on basalt. Each black, ochre, or red layer tells the story of a different eruption, over millions of years. You walk and you read history: black is fluid lava that flowed gently, ochre is tuff ejected during more violent explosions. The canyon was carved here because a tectonic fault opened the passage and water did the rest, year after year.
At the bottom, Phoenix canariensis palms, endemic, and giant euphorbias that grow like candelabras. It's not just a hike, it's crossing seven million years of Canarian volcanism in four hours.
The tip: Look at the strata as you go down along the walls at the start of the descent. You'll see the colors better when the sun is still low.
From the village of Masca, perched at 650 m altitude, the trail plunges into a narrow gorge carved by millions of years of volcanic erosion. The walls change color every hour: black, ochre, dark red.
The vegetation is dense at the bottom of the ravine — palms, laurels, giant euphorbias. In places, the trail runs alongside the bed of a dry stream.