montaña roja

Lanzarote Walk, Montaña Roja

The vibrant red mountain of Montaña Roja, often pronounced montanya Roger instead of montanya roha as it sounds in Spanish, has been linked to mysterious UFO sightings in the past.

This volcano is situated in the far South of Lanzarote. Whilst in the resort of Playa Blanca, I had an impulse for a walk. I was in the car so drove to the base by turning into Calle Francia, then second left into Calle de los Claveles parking at the end of this road. You can pick up the path by looking for the cellphone mast, someone has thoughfully painted the word volcano onto a few large black volcanic pebbles pointing the way as it’s not obvious.

Once found the path is well worn and obviously a very popular walk. It’s a short steep climb to the rim of the crater with a huge pile of stones if you feel the need to add one to mark your visit. The view down to Playa Blanca and Papagayo is incredible from here, following the path around the rim of the crater I was rewarded with views to Fuerteventura and Playa Flamingo.

It was late afternoon and the sun was low in the sky, it was a shame that the lighthouse at El Faro was hard to see from the glare. If you’d like to appreciate this view on your Montaña Roja walk, I would set off earlier in the day.

Whilst walking I became aware of the birdsong coming from inside the crater, I couldn’t see the birds but it would have been a very pleasant spot to sit with some binoculars if you appreciate watching the wildlife. The view to the South from Montaña Roja, would be the perfect spot to watch the sun setting. In fact as I was making my descent there were a few couples just starting the walk up.

I liked the view along the coast towards El Golfo and the Salinas del Janubio, the landscape is flat in comparison here with the Timanfaya fire mountains in the distance. On the back rim of the crater there are loads of stones piled into little towers, it’s worth just kneeling for a moment to appreciate the people who have passed by here and left a little stone monument behind.

The walk around Montaña Roja is just under 3km, I comfortably walked it in 40 minutes with time to appreciate the view and take photos. Although a fairly steep incline up the path would be suitable for most to manage, just take your time up and enjoy the view.

This walk can easily be extended along the Playa Blanca promenade or taking the track down to the coast behind.

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