Barranco de las Vacas, Gran Canaria

Once again, Facebook brought me something useful — this time a reference to a place called Barranco de Las Vacas (Cows’ Ravine) between the hill town Aguimes and small hamlet Temisas. The place is characterized by beautiful striation on the walls of the ravine, not dissimilar to those of Barranco de los Enamorados on Fuerteventura.

The distance between them is about 9 km by hiking path and it is a relatively flat walk. The ravine is somewhat closer to Aguimes, so this time we decided to walk from there (see the route and additional notes below).

As usual, before the walk I studied maps and routes, trying to make sure I knew exactly where we were going. The route is very simple, but for one specific place, where you have to walk on a road before finding the path again. I was worried that it would be difficult to find the start of the path from the road.

The contrast of high sun is not the best possible light for the smooth curves in the tuff walls.

This time, the street view of Google Maps didn’t help, there were no visible signs or any other indications. I was consoled by the knowledge that if we fail to (re)find the path, we can just follow the road. Given that there is very little traffic, it is a totally feasible option.

The round reservoirs in the bottom of the ravine could have been formed by whirling water or by a large stone rotated by water.
In this one there is no stone, but some smaller ones still have “their” stones in them.

Fortunately, Google Maps version of the reality is somewhat obsolete. Starting from the edges of Aguimes, all you have to do is follow the path to Temisas. There are yellow-marked posts and pointers saying “Temisas”. The only thing that is not signposted is the Barranco de las Vacas itself, but I don’t think there is any way you can miss it. There is just one bridge (see below), and that’s your cue.

The ravine is quite narrow and winding closer to the source, so that the final “chamber” is hidden from view.

The path starts from the north corner of Aguimes, from the road that descends into Barranco Guayadeque. As usual, you have to pass a few places with barking dogs. Fortunately, they are either behind fences or (sometimes and) chained, so they can annoy you but nothing else.

As your eyes adapt to the shade, you start seeing more of the beautiful stripes on the walls

You walk along a reasonably well maintained path for a while, then just a hundred meters (if that) along the road and then re-take the path. There are wooden signs with pointers.

Those look like traveling rocks.
Meaning that they’ve fallen off the wall and then carried downstream by the rainwater, getting smoother and smoothing the walls of the ravine along the way.

After another short bit of path, you cross the same road, descend into the ravine and find yourself on a small stone bridge (see below for some ref photos).

The last chamber. Sunlight wasn’t getting here, so this is where the best pics came from.

Standing on the bridge, you can see a path going along the bottom of the ravine to its source. There are no major technical problems with following the path. That said, it’s not a sidewalk level of difficulty either, you do have to scramble a bit. Please be careful — the stones can be slippery or loose.

See the face on the left? It was watching us all the time, and we were completely unaware.

First, you will have to go over a small artificial water cascade (photo below), except there is no water save maybe couple of days each year. Path goes on the left of it.

Perfect relaxation spot. I don’t know the origin of the diagonal “ladder”, maybe an occasional rock climber comes here.
Above the point where Kirill is sitting it gets near vertical.

After the waterless cascade, you see the tunnel below the main road in front of you. I think it pays to walk reasonably fast here, people do throw stuff from their cars occasionally, and you can see some rubbish at the bottom.

Sexy curves. View from the final chamber towards the exit (or entrance)

Pass through the tunnel and then under the remains of a small aqueduct. Here the walls of the ravine are already getting smoother, but there are still some plants growing.

More of the same...

Then you enter the final bit of the barranco, where there are no plants, just the rock. It is quite beautiful. Just a note though — I am told it is a very popular spot. We went on a weekday, so there were no other people there with us. But if you go on a weekend be ready to share this space with a group of hikers (or five).

...and more...

Even on a weekday, we meet with a couple and their small dog when we were coming out of the barranco, so... it might get crowded, I imagine. Not on the same scale as the Grand Canyon, but still.

Light at the end of the tunnel

The last, smoothest and most beautiful stretch of the ravine is quite short — maybe fifty meters or even less. It ends at a wide chamber where the walls are nearly vertical. When it rains there must be a transitory waterfall at the very end, but when it rains it must be very dangerous to be there at all. Right now, some of the rock looked wet and there were quite a few cabbage butterflies there (drinking?). We spent some time trying to make them fly but they resolutely refused to be bothered.

Beautiful, innit

In Spanish, the spot of the map is marked as Toba de Colores — colorful tuff. Tuff being a sort of volcanic rock (and not tufa — precipitated limestone).

We were happy that we found this beautiful spot, and that we found it empty. It is much shorter and more accessible than Barranco de los Enamorados, so to enjoy its charm you have to pick your time right. Not that we picked anything — it was more of a happy accident really.

Reference photos:

This is not a reference photo, but I found it funny.
The sign forbids unauthorized hunting.

First glimpse into the barranco before you start descending into it.

The stone bridge, from upstream

Waterless water cascade.

Aqueduct from under the tunnel

Narrowing

And narrowing some more

Details:
Distance: 3.48 km
↑ 231 m
↓ 29 m

As you can see, the distance, the ascent and the descent are all very small. Even with all the pauses to photograph stuff, it took us less than an hour and a half from the edge of Aguimes to the end of the barranco. You will have to do it twice though, if you were to do the same route.

With a bit of planning you can avoid retracing your steps and do a linear route of about nine km from Temisas to Aguimes, with a small diversion into the barranco, using public transport. I intend to do it next time I go that way (now done!). There are plenty of descriptions of this route (well, multiple copies of the same description) on wikiloc.

Photos of Barranco de las Vacas and Barranco de los Enamorados (why not) on Shutterstock.