Visitors to the old town of Adeje sometimes find the steep streets a little testing, as for others, they just can’t wait to move on to something even more challenging. The Barranco del Invierno (Hells Gorge) is the deepest barranco in Tenerife and a wonderful 3,125 metre return walk of around 3 hours. The level of difficulty is about medium, there is no climbing, just some uphill walking and a few tricky crossings over the stream. All you need are some sturdy shoes, water, a camera and some common sense.

Adeje council are rightly proud of this famous walk, and are careful to look after it. There is a small entry fee of 5 euros to cover upkeep and 6 multi lingual guides out on the route offer help and information on the history and nature of the area. On weekends and holidays you may have to queue to go on the walk, as they carefully monitor the amount of people out there at the same time.

So, let’s delve down into the barranco and the past of Tenerife to see the true rural face of the island. The start point is at the top of the town at Calle Los Molinos, just past the old castle, where the canon is still on guard. Once on the tight winding path, the views are stunning as a low barrier is all that seperates you from a sheer drop on one side. The path is very testing with cobbles, loose gravel and stones, so you need to keep alert. As returning walkers reach you, squeezing against the rock side becomes habit forming but there are several small viewpoints along the way to take a breather and some photos or even eat a few sarnies. This is a good time to spot the old stone water channels that run alongside the path, they date back around 400 years.

Moving on, a stream starts to bubble up and run close by, sometimes the path crosses it, and depending on the recent weather, the stream can be quite fast. The steep sides of the ravine rise at this point and close in making the bird song eerie and resonant. A marshy clearing and a small waterfall, before the path moves on, and the river gets deeper, just before the climax of the walk.

Turning a last leafy corner, the sides of the gorge open up to reveal a large steep sided cave with rock stacks leaning inward. There is a patch of blue sky high above but a 200 metre high waterfall cascading down the cave wall from a gash in the rock, and into a pool by a shingle beach, is enough to distract any upward interest. It’s like being cupped in the hand of nature.

The cave opening is a good place to take a break before retracing your steps, and usually at least one of the guides will be there to explain the history of the area. Basically, 11 million years ago, 3 volcanic peaks were continually erupting but when they stopped 7 million years later, the lava flows formed the barranco. With that history lesson taken on board, the return hour and a half trip will seem like a mere blink of the eye. It helps knowing the familiar landmarks as you go back to the start, this time you can relax a bit and snap a few more photos of the lovely plants and flowers or the paragliders swooping overhead on the thermal currents.