Teide National Park

UNESCO World Heritage Site (Teide National Park, Inscribed 2007), Declared A National Park In 1954, Containing The 3,715 Metre Summit Of Mount Teide, The Highest Point In Spain · La Orotava, Canary Islands

The highest point in Spain, and the third largest volcano on earth measured from its base on the ocean floor. The park is a caldera sixteen kilometres across at around two thousand metres, with the cone rising another seven hundred above it, and the ground inside is lava, pumice and obsidian in colours that do not look terrestrial; film crews have used it as Mars repeatedly. The summit needs a FREE PERMIT that has to be booked weeks ahead and is separate from the cable car ticket, which is the single thing visitors get wrong, and the cable car stops a couple of hundred metres short of the top. Above the cloud layer the air is thin, dry and exceptionally clear, which is why there are observatories on the ridge and why the park is one of the best places in Europe for stars. Bring far warmer clothing than the coast suggests; it freezes up here while people are swimming an hour away, and hypothermia cases happen every year.

Carretera TF-21, La Orotava, Canary Islands, 38300, Spain

NO OPENING TIME HERE WAS CHECKED. The structure: the PARK IS OPEN AT ALL TIMES and has no gate, and the TF-21 crosses it, so the roads and viewpoints are available day and night. THE CABLE CAR keeps limited daytime hours, closes in high wind at short notice, and stops selling well before it shuts. THE SUMMIT PERMIT carries its own named TIME SLOT. Visitor centres keep shorter hours. THE ROAD CLOSES FOR SNOW several times most winters. Confirm the cable car and the road.

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