4/26/2019 (updated: 3/30/2023) | 18min Reading time

Anaga – Canal and Gorge Hike around El Batán

DifficultyHard

IslandTenerife

Altitude670m - 720m

Distance13km

Circular hike

Head for heights

1.0El Batán, Bejia and two extraordinary gorges
- 1.1Tenerife Anaga – Canal and Gorge Hike around El Batán
- 1.2Canal hikes around El Batán
2.0General information about the round hike around El Batán
- 2.1Starting point and approach
- 2.2Arrival by car
- 2.3Arrival by bus
- 2.4Time
- 2.5Difference in altitude and distance
- 2.6Requirement
- 2.7Refreshment
- 2.8Variants
3.0Circular hike Punta del Hidalgo – Barranco Seco – Canal – Bejia – El Batán – Barranco del Río
4.0And finally

El Batán, Bejia and two extraordinary gorges

Tenerife Anaga – Canal and Gorge Hike around El Batán

Map

bridge over the channel in Barranco Seco

Today’s circular walk around the small town of El Batán in the Anaga Mountains on Tenerife starts at the coast in Punta del Hidalgo. From there you can hike up towards Cruz del Carmen.

Half way you reach the beautiful mountain village El Batán. For the more adventurous, who don’t want to stay on the normal trail, the hike leads through a long channel high above the Barranco Seco.

channel way Barranco Seco

Later you will descend via the small hamlet of Bejia to El Batán. Then you can go back through the Barranco del Rio or via Chinamada. Also through the Barranco del Rio a canal way leads. So you have many possibilities to get from El Batán back to Punta del Hidalgo.

hikers on the channel - circular hike El Batán

Canal hikes around El Batán

On this hike you hike up through the Barranco Seco and down again through the Barranco del Rio. If you want to experience something special while hiking, then the routes via the water channels are an alternative to the normal hiking trail. An experience of a special kind. But all channels are provided with warning signs. Nevertheless, at least in the well-preserved water channel above the Barranco Seco, there should be no danger in good weather. It is wide and in a really good condition, so that you can hike safely and well protected at any time. The prerequisite, however, is absolute freedom from vertigo, as the views from the canal are fantastic.

Start Channel Tour Barranco Seco

I only entered the canal in the Barranco del Rio in parts. It didn’t look very well preserved to me. Partly also rock pieces make it difficult to get through. But also there I saw hikers walking. Since I did not walk the way myself, but preferred the normal way through the Barranco del Rio, I unfortunately cannot give an exact description here. Maybe someone of you has collected experiences in the water channel. If this is so, I would be very happy about a comment or an addition to it.

Track circular hike - Punta del Hidalgo - Bejia - El Batán - Barranco del Rio

General information about the round hike around El Batán

Starting point and approach

Starting point of this hike is the church in Punta del Hidalgo on the TF-13.

Starting point - church in Punta del Hidalgo

Arrival by car

You will reach Punta del Hidalgo via the TF-5. From the motorway you can either take the TF-13 or the TF-16 in the direction of Tegueste. From there you drive via Bajamar on the TF-13 to Punta del Hidalgo. You drive through the town on the main road for a while. The church is on the left side of the road. Parking is available all along the main road.

Arrival by bus

The Titsa bus lines 050 and 105 stop in Punta del Hidalgo almost immediately in front of the church. You can find out more about the exact times on the Titsa homepage.

Time

I don’t like to give general time information for hiking tours, because the times are very individual. We needed about 7 hours for the hike. However, there were very long photo stays in the canal and in El Batán as well as some “side trips”. The pure hiking time is about 5 hours.

Matching the post:

elevation profile circular hike Punta del Hidalgo - El Batán - Barranco del Rio

Difference in altitude and distance

The difference in altitude in the ascent and descent is about 720 meters. As we have made some small detours in El Batán, it can be around 670 metres without a detour. The distance is almost 13 kilometres long.

Requirement

I would like to call this tour normal in the first part up to El Batán. You need fitness and a head for heights if you want to hike through the canal. Otherwise the part to El Batán runs on well marked hiking trails. However, the descent from El Batán to the Barranco del Rio is more difficult. You hike on paths that are not used much and are partly overgrown. The path is also not easy to find. Some passages in the descent are quite narrow and steep. Therefore absolute freedom from vertigo and surefootedness are necessary.

postsign El Batán in Punta del Hidalgo PR TF 11

If you want to walk through the canals, you should take a flashlight or headlamp with you, even if the tunnels are only short.

Refreshment

There are restaurants and bars at the starting point Punta del Hidalgo and in El Batán. There is a waterhole near the church square of El Batán. Therefore take enough water and food with you for the way.

Track circular hike and the track Punta del Hidalgo via Chinamada to Cruz del Carmen

Variants

This tour can be combined well with many other hiking and circular walks in the vicinity. To mention is the hiking tour from Punta del Hidalgo to Chinamada. You don’t go from El Batán to the Barranco del Río, but cross the same one and climb up to Chinamada. From there you go back to Punta del Hidalgo.

You can also continue your hike upwards from El Batán towards Cruz del Carmen. And from Cruz del Carmen descend via Chinamada (very long hike). Or you can take the bus back from Cruz del Carmen to Punta del Hidalgo.

Of course you can also do this tour in the other direction. You can – but don’t have to – walk the sections through the canal.

Caution sign - you may not use the channel way

And if all this is too long for you, you can only walk to El Batán and from there take the bus (Titsa 274) back.

hikers in the channel

Circular hike Punta del Hidalgo – Barranco Seco – Canal – Bejia – El Batán – Barranco del Río

Section Punta del Hidalgo to farms at the end of the Camino el Homicían

You start your walk at the TF-13 opposite the church in Punta del Hidalgo. The signposted PR TF 11 trail begins diagonally opposite the church, towards El Batán and Cruz del Carmen. You walk uphill on the Camino de Callejón road. At the end of the road, the path forks. Turn right onto the Camino El Bucio. You can also turn left and follow the Camino el Homicían straight ahead (shorter but not as scenic as the path).

view to Punta del Hidalgo

The hiking trail along the Camino El Bucio will get you out of the village in no time at all. On a wide path you now hike uphill in serpentines, quickly leaving the village of Punta del Hidalgo below you. You hike through meadows and terraced fields and already have some good views over Punta del Hidalgo. Later the trail meets the Camino el Homicían at some farmsteads. You turn right on the gravel path and follow the path marked white and yellow.

junction hiking trail Cruz del Carmen and on the left side channel way

Section of road from farmsteads at the end of the Camino el Homicían to Barranco Seco water channel

For a while the path that turns into a path leads you straight ahead. Then you come to a fork. Continue straight ahead along the normal PR TF 11 path towards El Batán. Since I haven’t walked this section yet, I can’t write anything about it at the moment. But before Bejia it meets the canal again. At the fork on the left there is the path that takes you to the entrance to the canal.

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my hiking dog Laso in the Barranco Seco

You follow the path first straight and then downhill and cross a side valley. Then you stand in front of the canal. From now on the canal will lead the way. It is wide and deep enough so that you are well secured. From time to time you have to pass some rock ledges. There is room – even if sometimes you have to go into the “draught”. You pass through short tunnels, galleries and have an impressive view into the Barranco Seco (not to be confused with the Barranco Seco in the Teno mountains).

hikers in the Barranco Seco

Section Barranco Seco to Bejia

You follow the water channel over a bridge and through a 100 meter long tunnel. The canal trail ends in the upper part of the Barranco Seco in the Barranco bed. From here a steep path takes you up in serpentines and around a rock. When you reach the top, you have a wonderful view back over the canal hiking trail, which now lies deep below you. You go up a little further and then meet a road.

gardens and fields around Bejia

This is where the PR TF 11 hiking trail joins, which from now on joins the described trail again. You are already in Bejia and walk along the road for a while. Then the footpath turns left off the road. It goes up to the higher houses of Bejia on a sometimes railing secured path. At the top, you have reached the highest point of the hike. From here you have a good view into the Barranco Seco behind you and the Barranco del Rio in front of you.

the little village of Bejia

Section Bejia to El Batán

In Bejia follow the hiking trail to the summit. From the ridge you can see the hamlet of Bejia with its gardens and fields. The path leads into a road, which you follow to the left. Then the footpath to the left of the road takes you along the left side of the mountain slope. You come over a small saddle, from where the trail descends steeply in small serpentines to the village of El Batán. On the way down you can see the Barranco del Rio and El Batán. The path passes a nice picnic area with tables and benches.

hiking path in Bejia

In El Batán you finally get out via stairs close to the church square. The place is pretty and worth a short stay. From the church square you can look into the Barranco del Rio and Chinamada. There is also a waterhole here, so that you can fill up your water supplies if necessary. From El Batán there are hiking trails to Chinamada and Cruz del Carmen. But here I present a route through the Barranco del Rio back to Punta del Hidalgo.

descent to El Batán

Section El Batán to Barranco del Rio (Barrancobett)

If you go back a bit from the church square, on the right of the main path there is a signposting for a footpath to Punta del Hidalgo. This is a very old path that is sometimes difficult to find. If you look at my track, we started by walking back and forth a few times. The background was also a small detour to a hill from where we hoped to have a better view of the path. At the first fork keep left and walk along a slope up a ridge. Right at the beginning of the ridge, the path descends sharply to the left.

Steep descent over a ridge into the Barranco del Rio

The path is very steep, partly overgrown and the branch is not easy to find. For the steep descent into the Barranco del Rio you need absolute surefootedness and a head for heights. The path is narrow and often leads directly along the abyss. After you have hiked out of the bushes and terraces, a passage runs freely and steeply over a mountain ridge. It remains difficult for some time. Under no circumstances should you choose this route if the weather is bad. Extreme caution is advised. But since the path is very steep and therefore brings you quickly downhill, you will also be in the bed of the Barranco del Rio after a short time.

Barranco del Rio - Start point second channel

Section Barranco del Rio to Punta del Hidalgo

When you arrive at the bottom of the Barrancobett between bushes and boulders, the path leads you very quickly to a wall where the canal path begins on the left. At first you can easily walk in the canal. Then there is a sign that the canal path is dangerous and not to be walked on. In fact, after a short time you will come across a rock that can hardly be bypassed. It is only possible to follow the normal path through the Barranco first and then climb up to the canal again later. We didn’t do it and followed the way through the Barranco del Rio.

junction hiking trail - second channel

The path leads you along small waterholes and over rocks. Sometimes it runs through bushes, then again on the left or right Barranco side. From time to time the path is a little hard to find, but you can’t get lost because the Barranco gives the way. It feels like this stretch is very long, as you follow the meanders of the gorge further and further. But at the end you arrive exactly at the point where the hiking trail to Chinamada from Punta Hidalgo climbs. You follow the main path with a view of the coast up to the TF-13 road. At the big square keep left and follow the road back to the starting point church.

hiking through the Barranco del Rio

And finally

I hope that you also enjoyed this beautiful circular hike in the Anaga mountains around El Batán. Be careful on the canal paths and the descent from El Batán. And if you have your own experiences on this tour, I am looking forward to your comments and additions. Have fun hiking,

Dagmar von Siebeninseln

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Comments

Edmunds - 12/21/21, 07:12 PM

I walked both canals in Barranco Seco and Barranco Rio a few of days ago (Dec 2021).

Canal in Barranco Seco is in perfect condition. No issues.

For the canal in Barranco Rio, instead of walking the canal from the very beginning, from the path at the river bed, where the canal is just a few meters up, I scrambled on the rock face to enter it. Easy scramble, took just a few seconds. From there on, I walked the whole length of the canal, and it is in perfect condition, there are no issues. There is a sign at the beginning that says “Prohibido El Paso Peligro” but since I don’t speak Spanish (El Paso is a city in USA, right?) I continued on. At the end you also have a sign, and in town you have to walk around/jump a fence to exit the area.

I am honestly baffled as to why these are closed, as both canals are literally fantastic. I understand accidents happen… but they don’t close beaches because someone drowns there, right. My guess is simply the canals are too narrow to handle huge numbers of tourists (both canals are very accessible), they are too narrow for two way traffic, and can probably turn dangerous in bad weather, so instead of actually trying to solve any of these problems, the local government just closed them. But in good weather, I don’t see anything dangerous in either of the places, and the canals themselves are in excellent condition.

Edmunds - 12/21/21, 07:19 PM

Also, I think the best circuit nowadays (if you don’t want to walk Barranco Rio canal due to the prohibited entry signs and having to jump a fence) is Punta Hidalgo – Barranco Seco canal – Batan – Chinamada – Punta Hidalgo.

I did this trail in 5h 30m, but I lost some time due to lack of signage in the Batan Bajo – Chinamada section (I accidentally started walking to Las Carboneras).

IMO, this is the best trail, as Barranco Rio canal is the most interesting one, and the trail allows you to take in both walking in the barranco, and the more expansive views from the Batan – Chinamada and Chinamada – Punta del Hidalgo sections.

Dagmar - 12/21/21, 07:26 PM

thank you for your interesting actual information Edmunds – other hikers will apreciate it

Karl Brobakk - 01/14/23, 08:38 PM

I did the Barranco Seco water canal today. I drove to Bejia until the road ended, and parked there. Got to the canal after following an old trail for 10 minutes. There is still a sign telling you not to enter the canal. No other hikers there, but I ran into a local farmer on the canal. He seemed surprised to see me there. When the interesting parts of the canal were done I climbed up the hill to the left and went back to the car. The canal is in good condition in my opinion, and I loved hiking along it, but as mentioned, this is not something for everybody.

Dagmar - 01/14/23, 09:42 PM

Thanks Karl for telling us the actual situation there

Arvid Berg - 08/04/23, 09:28 PM

I did a version of this today. It was a bit foggy and rainy, so I wanted to be as safe as possible and did the variant going from Punta Hidalgo along the channel to Bejia, then to Batan and from there I followed the path down through the lower houses to continue to Chinamada, and then back to Punta Hidalgo on the regular hike. I had something to eat at Restaurante La Cueva in Chinamada on the way. It is open Wednesday to Sunday from 10 AM to 7 PM (Closed Monday/Tuesday). Note the kitchen is only open from 12-4:30 so you would need to arrive there in that timeframe to be able to eat something. Will sure be back on a sunny day to do the other channel. It looked to be in good shape looking at it from the other side.