Gran Valle

The official route covers 6.4 kilometres one way and takes most walkers around two and a half hours. It starts at the base of the valley near Morro Jable and climbs gently up one side of the ravine through cardón and tabaiba scrub, with the surrounding rock changing colour as you gain height — one of the more visually striking stretches of any trail on the island.

After reaching the mountain pass (the degollada), the path descends the far side toward the coast, ending at Cofete. The going is moderate throughout — no scrambling or exposure — but there's no shade and the distance is real, so treat it as a proper half-day hike rather than a short stroll: water, sun protection and decent footwear all matter.

Partway through the ravine, an unexplained stone wall crosses the valley floor, alongside the ruins of an aboriginal settlement — old habitation structures, livestock corrals and a natural spring that once supplied water here, long before the island had roads. The valley is also one of the best places to see the cardón de Jandía, a large, columnar cactus found only on this peninsula and now a protected, endangered species.

The trail ends at Cofete, a tiny, isolated hamlet on one of Fuerteventura's longest and wildest beaches, with its small cemetery set directly on the sand and the mysterious Villa Winter on the hillside above. Reaching it on foot, after crossing the mountains rather than arriving by the coastal track, is part of what makes this hike memorable.