Lanzarote Hiking – South | Las Casitas de Femés

The onset of this walk is in the small settlement of Las de Casitas Femés which stands a short distance, in an easterly direction, down the valley from the village of Femés.

In Las de Casitas Femés you will find a small car park, next to a public bus stop and phone box.  There is a building on the corner with a sign reading ´Taller de Empleo “Turismo Activo de Tegoyo” ´. Park your car or disembark the bus here.

Follow the paved walkway which leads behind this building taking you down a flight of steps, close to a children´s play area, and join the dirt track at the bottom.  Turn left and follow this track in a southwesterly direction.  The path is flat here and after 10 minutes you will enter the ´Monumento Natural of Los Ajaches´, one of the two mountain ranges on the island (608m).  This protected area runs from this point, down to the coastline, along to the village of Femés and down towards Playa Blanca.  At this entry point you will be afforded views down to the Atlantic ocean where you can see circular outlines in the sea which are in fact large nets where tuna fish are bred.

To the right, you will notice a wooden marker post with a green circle indicating a track leading up a small hill in the direction of Femés. It states that it should take 1h 30 minutes.  Follow this track which gradually meanders up this rocky hillside.  The path is marked with small stones at its edges.  Along the way, you will notice several  wooden boards displaying a photograph of the plants that you will see within this area.  The first one shows ´Verol´ a species indigenous to the Canary Islands, and the second ´Tabaiba amarga´which can be found on Lanzarote, Fuerteventura and Gran Canaria.  At the site of this latter board, you will notice that there is an option to leave the main trail and to take a track behind you which will bring you up to a summit abundant in wild cactus plants.  If you choose to climb up here, you will be offered a view of the old town of Puerto del Carmen and a glimpse of the burnt orange and red coloured craters and volcanic peaks of Timanfaya National Park.

Descending from here you can then rejoin your original trail and continue up the clearly visable zig zagged track ahead which is slightly steeper than your first ascent.  At the summit here, you are able to catch your first glimpse of the village of Femés, flanked on one side by a volcanic peak topped with telephone masts.  A sideways glance from this elevated position will give you further views of the impressive volcanoes of Timanfaya.  From this point, 2.5km into the walk, the path flattens out as it continues to run along the side of the valley.  You will notice as you progress, that the rocks themselves become paler in colour and are covered in a light coloured green lichen. As you look beyond the village, down towards the coastline, you can see  a  yellow coloured building in the distance which is one of the islands desalinisation plants.

At the 5km stage of this walk, you will reach the first of two goat farms, the second of which produces cheese from the goats milk, available to buy in the village.  You will notice the sign on its outer wall reading Queseria Rubicon. The area that you have now reached is still part of ´Los Ajaches´ from where a further four walks commence, these will be covered in later postings. From the Queseria follow the dirt track down into the villlage where you will reach the tarmaced road. To your right, you will see the bus stop for Femés.

There are three eateries located in Femés, one of which is now ahead of you to the right. ´Bar Restaurant Femés´. By turning left on this tarmaced road,  you would come across ´Casa Emiliano´on the lefthand side, a restaurant with an amazing garden featuring a multitude of rose bushes and opposite this,  Balcon de Femés,  which offers spectacular views of the coastal resort of Playa Blanca, as well as of Fuerteventura and the smaller island of Lobos.

From the point of reaching the bus stop and tarmaced road, proceed straight ahead.  On your right  you will notice a public phone box behind which there is a small car park and a shop where you can buy the local goats cheese.  This shop is open Monday – Saturday from 10am – 8pm and on Sunday´s from 10am – 3pm. Passing this, continue up the slight incline and bear right through the village where you will now notice the vocanic peak topped with masts ahead of you.  After the second lampost, you will see a left hand turning where the paved surface underfoot changes to concrete.  Turn left here and follow this road upwards until it turns into a dirt track.  When this track forks, bear left and continue uphill past a chained fence.  This ascent is quite steep to start with but becomes less so as you weave your way  gradually up towards the summit.  Half way up this track, at the 7km stage of the walk, you will catch your first views of Playa Blanca featuring the Rubicon Marina, Fuerteventura, Lobos and the steep slopes of ´Los Ajaches´that we left behind but which continue to run down towards Playa Blanca.

Once the track flattens out you will have the choice to continue onwards up towards the masts, or of bearing right.  It is here that you will turn right.  On reaching the top of this track you will be  rewarded with the most specacular view imaginable.  To your left are the clearly marked squares of water and piles of white sea salt that signify the Salinas del Janubio (salt pans), the volcano of El Golfo is ahead  of you along the coast, appearing slightly greener in colour than its neighbours.  Timanfaya National Park spreads completely across your view with its soaring, jagged volcanoes and gaping craters coloured in dark reds, burnt oranges, pinks, jet blacks and splashes of  gold.

Accompanying this breathtaking backdrop are the two small, white washed villages of Yaiza, ahead, and Uga, slightly further to the right.   As you look at three volcanoes ahead of you, you will notice a large expanse of solidified lava between them and the next visible peaks.  It heads down towards the sea running parallel to the Playa Blanca road before disappearing behind the Salinas.  This is in fact a solidified ´lava river´ where, during the eruptions which lasted between 1730 and 1736, molten lava flowed from the volcanoes, down towards the sea before cooling.

At this point, heading to your right, you begin your descent.  Be careful here as the ground is slightly slippery underfoot do to loose stones. At the beginning of this track you will have drops on either side of the path, but the trail is wide enough for a vehicle to pass so. Soon, on your left hand side, you will notice a small, semi circular wall built out of volcanic stones.  This is a good place for you to stop and have your picnic. You will follow this downward track until you pass a protected area for birds on your left hand side and reach a dry stone wall made with large volcanic rocks.  At this point, you have two choices to descend back down to Las Casitas de Femés.

Firstly, you can walk down the dirt track to your right that winds its way down towards to main road.  The track is used by vehicles, and due to rainfall and erosion, can have some large holes in it, but it is a gradual walk down.   Cross over the  main road at the bottom and walk though the open ground ahead of you.  You will then reach the initial track that you followed from the village.  It is just a case of bearing left and retracing your steps back to the car or bus stop.

Secondly, and I would only recommend this option for the surefooted, you can climb over the volcanic wall and ascend the steep hill in front of you.  There are two noticable tracks on the hillside, the less steep, and rocky, seems to be the one on the right.  At the summit, you will find youself on the rim of a volcanic crater with the village  in front of you.  The crater appears pale green in colour due to the lichen present on its stones.  There is no visable track to follow here but by bearing left, you can walk around the rim making your way  slowly downwards.  Towards the bottom, you will need to head down into the crater itself to avoid a steep drop. As the ground is covered in small, loose rocks, you will need to take care.  Once you have reached the floor, you can then follow the dirt track back into the village, passing on your left, a local ´casa rural´. On reaching the main road, you need to cross over to reach the car park where you started the walk.

I hope that you enjoy this walk when you complete it.  Please feel free to leave a comment as and when you do.

Now that you have found this page, please come further and find out about me and what I am doing here on Lanzarote.

Tags: Femés, Las Casitas de Femés