Contadero - El Cedro - Contadero

This route offers one of the most complete and varied itineraries within Garajonay National Park, allowing visitors to explore a remarkable diversity of summit and northern slope ecosystems, distributed according to altitude, humidity, and the influence of mist. In its initial sections, the trail crosses summit heathlands, wind-exposed plant formations covered with dense carpets of moss that blanket the ground and tree trunks, creating a cool and silent atmosphere. As the path descends along the northern slope, the landscape gradually transforms into classic hillside laurel forest, more humid and lush, where laurels, barbusanos, large heaths, and giant ferns abound. In the lower parts of the ravine, the trail enters a particularly interesting type of laurel forest: laurel forest with viñátigos (Persea indica). Here, these trees reach remarkable size due to the high environmental humidity and the presence of permanent watercourses—one of the most characteristic features of this area of the Park. These ravine bottoms form true ecological refuges, where vegetation appears at its most exuberant and mature. After leaving the northern boundary of the Park, the route continues toward the hamlet of El Cedro, located at the bottom of a ravine that carries water year-round thanks to the retention capacity of the monteverde forest. This rural enclave, surrounded by high forested cliffs, is one of the most distinctive places on La Gomera due to its isolation, natural beauty, and historical connection to agriculture and water management. The landscape is marked by an impressive vertical cliff over 200 metres high, from which a waterfall plunges down, sharply separating this area from the Hermigua Valley, one of the most fertile valleys in the north of the island. This escarpment is one of the most striking geological features along the route. The return to Contadero once again allows visitors to experience the variations in vegetation and climate, thus completing an itinerary that perfectly encapsulates the environmental richness of Garajonay National Park.