Las Escaleras - Las Carboneras / Las Escaleras - Chinamada

1 The track starts on the edge of the TF-1145 road at a very sharp bend, after passing the hamlets of El Rio and Las Cordilleras. On its first stage, it goes down some steps from where you may enjoy a beautiful view of Roque Taborno (Taborno Mount). Once down, the track follows in a zig-zag, through a thick mass of tree-heath and wax-myrtles until it reaches, after some l00 m., a bend, by a high voltage tower. At this point, the track divides in two.
You have two options now: on the right, towards Las Carboneras, the track descends in a zig-zag to the TF- 1145 road, with some natural caves on the left, and after these a spring. It crosses the road, and after 400 m., it reaches the hamlet of Las Carboneras, one of the most important and interesting spots of the rural world of Anaga. Along this part you will see wooden posts either on the right or the left. On the left towards Chinamada: the track follows a narrow path bordering the Tomadero ravine, which is very steep and on whose bed there are still some ponds and springs combined with eroded materials. It passes through the houses of Tames from which you may have extraordinary views of Chinamada and Batán de Abajo.
2 Turning right at the houses of Tames, you get to the end of the track at the hermitage of the hamlet of Chinamada, 3 of great ethnographical interest, since it preserves about thirty caves in good condition still inhabited by the locals.

Interesting details

Anaga.

After Tinerfe, the last great "mencey" (king), died, Beneharo, his youngest son inherited the kingdom of Anaga. During this time, Anaga was extremely rich in water and pasture, and the Guanches had enough to live on. When the conquest ended by 1495, the process of pacification and colonization started, and Anaga was divided among the Spanish conquerors, the Adelantado (governor of new territories appointed by the Crown) Don Alonso Fernández de Lugo gave the lands in the traditional "repartimientos de tierra" (land divisions). The first settlement of this area, Taganana, was founded in 1501. Taganana would become later the centre of jurisdiction. The driving force behind Taganana´s colonization process and its economic development was sugar. One of the most urgent necessities was to open new roads and to break the isolation of the area. The network of paths and roads used by the indigenous people proved to be absolutely insufficient, hence other and better roads had to be built, e.g. the Camino Real de las Vueltas (Royal Road of the Bends).

Flora

Canary Islands Ebony (Persea Indica), Canarian Laurel (Laurus Azorica).

Values

Fauna: two kinds of wild pigeons, called "turqué" (Bolle pigeon) and "rabiche" (Pigeon of the Laurel Forests).

Heritage

Hermitage of Nuestra Señora del Carmen (19th c.) Information centre at Cruz del Carmen.

Protection

Inside the rural Park of Anaga Useful telephone numbers Rural Park Informatión Centre 922 633 576 La Laguna Local Police 922 601 175 Red Cross 922 259 626 - 922 281 800 City/Highway Police 922 259 416 TITSA (Bus company) 922 531 300

Route details

Position	Borough of La Laguna
Start point	Las Escaleras (TF-1145)
End point	Las Carboneras or Chinamada (2-3)
Distance	3 km.
Duration	Las Carboneras 20 min.
Difficulty	Medium
Accessibility	TITSA bus routes.
Slope	100 mts. approx.