Timanfaya National Park

timanfaya national park

Timanfaya National Park quick facts and ratings:-

8/10 – Overall rating

8/10 – walking and exploring
8/10 – natural beauty
10/10 – likeness to the moon
7/10 – access and parking
7/10 – restaurant
2/10 – local amenities

Drive times

40 minute drive time from Costa Teguise
30 minutes drive time from Puerto del Carmen
30 minutes drive time from Playa Blanca

Overview

Timanfaya National Park, or the Fire Mountains, was violently born of fire, eruptions, volcanoes and molten lava some 300 year ago. Six years of eruptions turned the landscape into a moonscape.
The Timanfaya National Park is a must see for visitors to Lanzarote

Getting to Timanfaya National Park

Driving or cycling
Coming from Yaiza take the LZ57 North until you see the entrance to the National Park on your left after six kilometres

If you are arriving from the North take the LZ57 South from Tinajo. Follow the road until you see the park entrance on the right.

Coach
There are coach tours from all the major Lanzarote resorts. You can book your coach tour online.

fire mountains car park

About Timanfaya National Park

timanfaya national park views

Less than 300 years ago this whole area was like living in armageddon. Violent eruptions lasting six year completely decimated the whole area.

If you want to know how the world first began then look no further. The landscape as far as the eye can see is rough and wrought lava fields and volcanoes, thankfully all dormant now.

The Timanfaya National Park has several parts worth visiting:-

The Visitors centre:

Open Everyday from 9am to 4.45pm
Entrance fee: free

There is a visitors centre on the LZ57 near to Tinajo. This is more like a museum explaining the history of the area. How the eruptions started, how long they lasted and also seismic devices monitoring any movements in the earth that you can watch live.

The Fire Mountains

Queues for the Timanfaya National Park

At busy times of the year and later in the day be prepared for a wait. There can be queues of traffic at the entrance gates.

Fire Mountains opening times

Gates open at 9am and close at 3.45pm

Entrance fees

To get into the park you pay at the gate then drive on a few kilometres to the parking area.
Price for adults is 12 euros
Price for children between 7 and 12 years old is 6 euros

The Fire mountains is the main attraction to the Timanfaya National Park. To get in you need to pay at the gate then drive, coach or cycle up to the parking area.

Once inside the Fire Mountains you have several options

1 – Get on the awaiting coach and take the incredible coach tour.

timanfaya coach tour

The coach ride takes you along roads not available to the general public. There are narrow roads that go through the most spectacular sections of the Fire Mountains.

See such areas as the ‘Valley of Tranquility’. The valley with multi coloured volcanic rocks and sands seems permanently stuck in time, with no hurry or concerns of today.

As the coach ride continues new and spectacular landscapes appear. During the ride the you will hear a historic story with sound effects of what went on to create the amazing scenery.

timanfaya coach tour through the lava

2 – Visit the ‘El Diablo’ restaurant

el diablo restaurant

The restaurant uses the geothermal energy just below the ground. Enjoy a meal in a incredible and unique setting.

3 – The heat below ground demonstrations

timanfaya fire from ground heat

Parts of the volcanic ground just below the surface still maintain incredible temperatures. You will see demonstrations on how much heat energy is stored below the surface. Your tour guide will put tree branches in a hole below the surface that immediately catch fire. There is another impressive demonstration using water. A bucket of water is poured into a pipe going into the ground. A few seconds later a screaming geyser of steam ejects high into the air.

timanfaya heat below ground demonstration

Time a visit to the Fire Mountains takes:

The coach tour and heat below the surface demonstrations are included in the entry fee. To go on both the coach tour and see the heat demonstrations takes just over one hour depending on the amount of visitors.

Camel Rides:

Two kilometres south of the entry gate to the Fire Mountains section of the Timanfaya National Park along the LZ57 are the camel rides. There is a large car park next to the camel rides. The camel rides in the Timanfaya National Park cost 22 euros per person. Each camel can take up to two people in wooden seats strapped either side of the camel’s hump.

At this location you will also find the ‘Echadero Museum’. The museum is open from 9am to 3pm and shows the traditional uses of camels and farming tool plus an exhibition about the Timanfaya National Park.

Walking in the Timanfaya National Park

Coastal Walk north from El Golfo or South from Tenser

The Tremensana Guided Walk. This is a short two kilometre walk that you will need to book in advance at the Mancha Blanca Visitor Centre or by calling 0034 928 849 839

History of the Timanfaya National Park

The area of Lanzarote where the Timanfaya National Park is located used to be fertile and a centre for farming and cultivation.
In 1730 there were huge volcanic eruptions centred around Timanfaya that affected a quarter of Lanzarote.
Lanzarote towns in the area that were destroyed forever included Santa Catalina, Maretas and Mazo. The first eruptions started on September 1st 1730 at 9.30pm. At first the lava flowed as fast as water then slowed. Since the catastrophe it has been estimated that the total volume of lava exuded from the earth came to around one square kilometre or 1,000 million cubic meters.

The most recent volcanic eruptions in Lanzarote

On July 30th 1824, just 200 years ago the most recent Lanzarote volcanic eruptions took place. The recent eruptions took place in Tao, Tinguaton and from the Chinero volcano within the Timanfaya National Park.

Summary

There is a lot to see in the Timanfaya National Park but all of it is well worth the effort.

The must see part are the Fire Mountains with the amazing coach tour and vivid below the ground heat demonstrations.

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Things to d0 near The Timanfaya National Park

Visit the Fishing town of El Golfo

Eat fresh fish, walk the coast and see the Green Lagoon

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Visit Los Hervideros.

Los Hervideros

See dramatic waves exploding into the lava formed coastline rock

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See Playa de la Montana Bermeja

playa de montana bermeja

Sun bath on the quiet little known black sand beach