Moriscos hike

The Moriscos is the highest mountain in the north of Gran Canaria.

A hike to this mountain offers us many good views, at first across the north of the island to Las Palmas, then, almost at the highest point, we enjoy the excellent views, on a spectacular path above the rocks from the caldera of Tejeda, to the center of Gran Canaria. We will also visit some caves of the natives and on the way back one of the three volcanic craters at the island near by Pinos de Galdar.
The hike is in large parts pretty easy on good trails. For a small part of the hike a little fear of heights is required. The way is sufficiently wide and it is possible to avoid this, although most beautiful part of the walk. For those who do not have extreme problems with vertigo this part is to do well.
Being located in the north, the way in the car is a bit longer. But we already see and learn something about the island.

Technical data of the hike

Distance: about 10 km
Altitude: 320 + 70 m
Duration: 3.5 hours without breaks
Difficulty: 1-2 see here

Description, Moriscos hike

Here is a brief description of the hike with some photos.

At the beginning of the hike, it goes through the chestnut groves in the north of Gran Canaria. These are covered with long lichen.

Lichen on tree, on the guided walk
Especially in winter when the trees have no leaves, these are particularly impressive and may be up to 80 cm long.

Moriscos1

As we climb on a grassy slope, we enjoy the views over the north coast and in the northeast the capital, Las Palmas.

View to Las Palmas on the ascent of the hike
At the highest point of our hike we experience on a spectacular trail the views of the underlying village of Tejeda. In winter you can see the bright green terraced fields.

Views of Tejeda from above

Panoramic views over the center of Gran Canaria, left Cruz de Tejeda, in the left center the Roque Nublo, to the right the Roque Bentaiga and at the very right edge the village of Aldea de San Nicolas.

Panoramic views from the Cuevas de Caballero, at the Morisco Hike
At our break area with good views, we can visit the caves of the natives too.

View to the Pico de las Nieves and Roque Nublo
We see the square hewn rock caves.

Cave of the natives of Gran Canaria at our walking tour
In the largest cave there are some carvings belonging to a fertility cult of natives of Gran Canaria.

Cave drawing  cuevas de caballero
On the way down we can still see clearly the volcanic past of Gran Canaria. In the center of the image below, the youngest volcano of the island. 
In this region blooms in April and May the yellow gorse very nice and the purple flowering Canary sage.

Monañon Negro in the north of Gran Canaria on the hiking trail
At the end of the Moriscos hiking tour we are still passing a interesting volcanic crater. The viewpoint offers good views over the crater, one of the three visible volcanic craters of Gran Canaria. We can see from the northwest the Punta de Sardina to the north east towards Las Palmas.
Click here for the panoramic image.

Video of the hike