Roque Nublo

Roque Nublo is a plug of basalt about eighty metres high standing on a plateau at 1,813 metres in the middle of Gran Canaria, the hard core of a volcanic vent left behind as softer rock eroded around it over four million years. It was a sacred place for the pre-Hispanic Canarians, and it remains the island's emblem. A path of about a kilometre and a half from the La Goleta car park climbs gently to the base in around half an hour, past El Fraile, a second formation resembling a hooded monk. From the plateau the view covers most of the island and, on clear days, Teide on Tenerife rising above the cloud. The Tejeda basin below is a caldera-like erosion bowl that Unamuno called a petrified storm.

What you actually see

• The basalt monolith - an eighty-metre volcanic plug on the plateau.
• El Fraile - a second formation shaped like a hooded figure.
• The Teide view - Tenerife's peak above the cloud on clear days.
• The Tejeda basin - an eroded bowl of rock below the plateau.

When to go

Year-round; the plateau is above the cloud layer much of the time, which is why it works when the coast is grey. Sunrise and sunset are the classic times and the car park fills for both. Winter nights can bring frost and occasional snow.

Honest expectations

The car park is small and fills at sunset and on weekends, with roadside overflow. The path is easy but at 1,800 metres and exposed. The monolith cannot be climbed and is fenced at the base.

Nearby

Tejeda village lies below; Pico de las Nieves and Artenara are on the same central massif.