At Timanfaya you can feel the Earth breathing. With its red craters and lava flows, this national park offers you a sensory adventure: geological history, Martian landscapes and experiences to be enjoyed through all the senses.
What is it and where is it?
The Timanfaya National Park is a protected space that’s entirely geological in nature, covering an area of 5,107 ha (51 km²) in the southwest of Lanzarote, between the municipalities of Yaiza and Tinajo. At the heart of its landscape lie the Montañas del Fuego (Mountains of Fire), formed by the eruptions of 1730–1736 and 1824. The main entrance to the park is via the LZ-67 road (between Yaiza and Mancha Blanca). This leads to Islote de Hilario and to the Volcano Route; the best option is to arrive by car or organised tour, as public transport is very limited in the vicinity of the park.
A lunar landscape with centuries of history
You don’t “visit” Timanfaya, you live it. As soon as you cross the threshold of the Montañas del Fuego, the colours change in tone to ochres, blacks, reds, and you start to read a story written in lava. Here the wind sounds different, the ground breathes out heat and the horizons become abstract, as if someone has transported a piece of Mars to Lanzarote. And it’s no wonder: this volcanic corner of the world, formed by historical eruptions, is one of the most unique landscapes in the Atlantic. Somewhere to understand, with your body and your eyes, the creative (and sometimes devastating) force of our planet.
In order to take in the enormity and wonder of it all, you first need to listen to the history. Between 1730 and 1736, a series of eruptions covered a large part of the island with lava, lapilli and cones that still look freshly created today. Decades later, in 1824, a new phase of eruptions finished off the landscape that we explore today with respect and curiosity. Thanks to the records kept and research carried out in the National Park, it has been possible to reconstruct the sequence that transformed the fertile fields into an open-air geological lab.
The result is a catalogue of textures: rough and twisted flows; lava with a smoother, ropy surface; perfect cones silhouetted against the sky; tunnels, hornitos and dikes that convey, layer by layer, the magma pulses. Timanfaya, then, is an extraordinary book from which we can learn how to read Earth.
Islote de Hilario: feeling the heat of the planet
In the heart of the park, Islote de Hilario is the site of one of the most amazing experiences: geothermal demonstrations. You only need to dig down a few centimetres to see that the heat is real; just a few metres down and the temperature soars. The guides show you how straw will burn when it comes into contact with the subsoil and how a simple bucket of water, when poured into a hole in the ground, shoots back out in the form of a geyser. It’s a scientific display: there are no tricks, just residual energy that continues to pulsate under the basalt.
The Volcano Route: Mars-like views
The Volcano Route, included in the entry to the Montañas del Fuego, is the common thread that enables you to explore, by official guagua (bus), the 14 kilometres that encompass the key features of Timanfaya. The route is designed to minimise the impact on an extremely fragile environment, whilst offering visitors a comprehensive view of the landscape. In around 35 minutes, the bus winds between cones, craters and flows that narrate the eruptive cycle of the 18th century and the mark it has left on the land. The stops offer views that could easily be from Mars.
The on-board commentary helps you to recognise mountains, textures, ancient lava rivers and those impossible colours that, depending on the light of day, range from chocolate brown to garnet red. It’s a reminder that conservation requires limitations: you can’t wander freely here as the ground is fragile and safety is paramount. The reward, however, is huge: an album of geological postcards without stepping off the bus.
Hiking and silence: the Tremesana Route
If hiking is your thing, Timanfaya can also be experienced step by step. The most iconic walking route is the Tremesana Route, a guided walk into one of the best preserved areas of the park. This is no ordinary excursion: the groups are small and you need to book in advance, precisely to protect the environment and to guarantee the best interpretive experience. The path, low in difficulty, allows you to stop and look at details that are hard to spot from the bus: the glassy rind of a young lava, the shape of a hornito, the morphology of a crater or the miracle of a plant clinging to the lapilli. It is also a lesson in silence: the wind and your footsteps are sometimes the only sounds to be heard.
A useful tip: book your place in advance on the website of the National Parks Network. The Tremesana walks fill up quickly due to their intimate format and as they are free of charge. The meeting point is usually in Yaiza, a short distance by road from the park.
The taste of the volcano: gastronomy at El Diablo
At Islote de Hilario itself, the architecture of César Manrique converses with the landscape at the El Diablo restaurant, a circular structure of glass and stone that hugs the horizon. The experience here is twofold: eating and viewing. On the volcanic grill, a natural stove takes advantage of the heat from the subsoil to slow-cook meats and fish, and the result tastes of the land. Eating on a volcano, literally, is one of those memories you will cherish forever, saved in the folder marked “only on Lanzarote”.
Manrique’s design is no aesthetic whim: it’s a declaration of principles. Integrating art, architecture and nature without harming the environment, turning the landscape into a living exhibition hall and reminding us that the real protagonist is the land. From those windows, the show goes on.
How to see Timanfaya: key tips for a sensory visit
Let the light work its magic. The hues of the park change with the sun: at first light and at dusk the ochres shine and the blacks turn to silk. If you can, avoid midday and wait until the shadows paint the slopes like the folds of a dress.
Listen to the ground. The geothermal energy you can feel beneath your feet at Islote de Hilario reflects the events of almost three centuries ago. You can’t see the energy, but you can hear it and smell it; that mix of hot minerals and dry air is all part of the character of this place.
Learn to read the lava. From the bus you’ll recognise “aa” and “pahoehoe” lavas, you’ll see pyroclastic domes and fields and understand why this park is an open-air classroom for geologists from all over the world. Don’t worry if you can’t remember the names: the important thing is to recognise that the landscape is telling you a story.
Walk with purpose. In Tremesana, every stop is a chapter: landscapes of ash that still retain their relief, small pioneering gardens that colonise the wilderness, cracks left by those days of fire. And, above all, silence. Book, travel light and follow your guide.
Savour at leisure. At El Diablo, the volcanic grill is the talking point, whilst the essence is the dialogue with the environment. As you enjoy every mouthful, look at the horizon: not many restaurants in the world have a dining room that in itself is a lesson in geology.
Some sensible (and useful) tips
- Plan your visit to the Montañas del Fuego and, if of interest, book in advance your place on the guided routes (especially Tremesana). Places are limited to protect the ecosystem and ensure an intimate experience.
- Follow the routes and the guidelines: the ground is fragile and its conservation depends on everyone. The bus is not a gimmick, it’s an effective strategy for minimising our footprint.
- Equip yourself with closed-in footwear, a cap and water. It is often windy and the sun can be treacherous even on mild days. Appropriate footwear is obligatory on guided routes.
- Combine the experience with other volcanic landscapes on the island, such as La Geria or the Volcán del Cuervo, to understand how the way of life and agriculture adapted to the ash. (Outside of the park, remember, there are paths where you can walk freely, but inside, protection is paramount).
- Look with curious eyes. Every colour is telling you to what temperature a lava cooled; every line, the direction of a flow; every silence, the passage of time.
Much more than a national park
At the end of the day, when the bus returns to Islote de Hilario and the last artificial geyser has been extinguished, one thing is certain: Timanfaya is not just one more “point of interest” on the map. It is a window onto the inner force of our planet, a place where beauty is born from the contrast between destruction and life. Here we can see how the landscape is not an aesthetic, but an ongoing process; how the red of a cone and the glimmer of a lava tell the same story as a marine fossil or a vineyard of La Geria: the story of an island that learned how to live in harmony with fire and rejoice in it.
Timanfaya is, in short, a journey into the heart of volcanoes: the ultimate geology lesson, a fine example of conservation and an invitation to look, and experience, Lanzarote through all the senses.
