The Barranco del Infierno (in English: "Hell's Gorge") is a

ravine A ravine is a landform that is narrower than a canyon and is often the product of streambank erosion.Adeje Adeje is a town and municipality in the southwestern part of the island of Tenerife, one of the Canary Islands, and part of the province of Santa Cruz de Tenerife, Spain. The town Adeje is located 4 km from the coast, 8 km north of the resort town ...

in the south of the island of

Tenerife Tenerife (; ; formerly spelled ''Teneriffe'') is the largest and most populous island of the Canary Islands. It is home to 43% of the total population of the archipelago. With a land area of and a population of 978,100 inhabitants as of Janu ...

Canary Islands The Canary Islands (; es, Canarias, ), also known informally as the Canaries, are a Spanish autonomous community and archipelago in the Atlantic Ocean, in Macaronesia. At their closest point to the African mainland, they are west of Morocc ...

Spain , image_flag = Bandera de España.svg , image_coat = Escudo de España (mazonado).svg , national_motto = ''Plus ultra'' (Latin)(English: "Further Beyond") , national_anthem = (English: "Royal March") , i ...

. It is the second most-visited protected area on the island. A popular hiking trail leads through the ravine to the highest waterfall on Tenerife. Access to the gorge is controlled by a limitation of 300 daily visitors. It is not permitted to under-5s, and under-18s must be accompanied by an adult.Tenerife Top Tours (2020)
''Rules''
Consulted 15 January 2023. Reservations can be don
online
The trail was closed for security reasons after a deadly accident in 2009 and again on October 26 2015, but was reopened on February 10 2016. The biggest change of all is the compulsory wearing of crash helmets. Currently it is open all the way to the end, except on rainy and windy days, additional safety measures have been implemented. The path takes approximately three and a half hours, between the outward and return journey, and the total route is approximately 6.5 km. The area is very important archaeologically, since there are hundreds of caves that were home to many aboriginal

Guanches The Guanches were the indigenous inhabitants of the Canary Islands in the Atlantic Ocean some west of Africa. It is believed that they may have arrived on the archipelago some time in the first millennium BCE. The Guanches were the only nativ ...

, as well as caves with engravings. The largest collection of

Guanche mummies Guanche mummies ( Canarian Spanish: , formerly ; , "embalmed ones"; , "leather-bagged ones") are the intentionally desiccated remains of members of the indigenous Berber Guanche people of the Tenerife. The Guanche mummies were made during the e ...

and utensils were found here and placed in the

Museum of Nature and Man A museum ( ; plural museums or, rarely, musea) is a building or institution that cares for and displays a collection of artifacts and other objects of artistic, cultural, historical, or scientific importance. Many public museums make these ...

Santa Cruz de Tenerife Santa Cruz de Tenerife, commonly abbreviated as Santa Cruz (), is a city, the capital of the island of Tenerife, Province of Santa Cruz de Tenerife, and capital of the Canary Islands. Santa Cruz has a population of 206,593 (2013) within its admi ...

. File:Barranc de l'Infern a la Vall de Laguar 09.jpg, Information board in Spanish File:Barranco del Infierno Closed Fence.JPG, Fence at the entrance to the trail after the accident in 2009 File:Barranco del Infierno Closed Detail.JPG, Detail of the sign File:Barranco del Infierno - Tenerife - 13.jpg, Trail - first part File:Barranco del Infierno - Tenerife - 07.jpg, Trail - second part File:Barranco del Infierno - Tenerife - 14.jpg, Trail - third part File:Barranco del Infierno 9.JPG, End of the trail

References

External links

Red Canaria de Espacios Naturales Protegidos - Gobierno de Canarias.Gran Enciclopedia Virtual de las Islas CanariasInformación sobre entrada y reservas
Ravines of the Canary Islands Protected areas of Tenerife {{Tenerife-geo-stub