Plenty of people have been asking if it’s possible to walk to the new Mirador de Haría, a stunning glass construction overlooking the Valley of a Thousand Palms. The answer is “Yes!” and here’s our tour guide David Penney to lead the way.
We park our cars at the carpark at the Mirador Restaurante Los Helechos at the top of the LB-10. Please note that parking here is only permissible for customers, so we bought a couple of items from the café/bar.
We now leave the car park to the left so we can pick up the GR 131 trekking trail, which is a wee bit further back and across the road. It is important to join up with this trail so that you spend minimal time on the road.
The GR-131 is very well signposted with a burgundy band at the top of the wooden posts which are dotted all along the route. The whole route runs for 73km, which is the full length of the island from Orzola in the north to Playa Blanca in the south.
We walk past a couple of fincas along the flat track. Then the path quickly becomes a rough track as we start our descent. This track cuts across the road, so I go first to make sure it’s OK for the others to follow. I’d advise crossing quickly, always keeping an eye out for cars in both directions.
The next time we meet the road we take a detour from the GR-131 and walk to the right along the road for about 100 metres, to allow us to visit the Mirador de Haría, which is the newest tourist attraction here on Lanzarote. This was the main reason for us to do the walk.
The word ‘mirador’ means viewpoint, and they have created two glass viewing galleries after it has been renovated with an investment of 245,000 euros. We were fortunate to have good visibility on a clear and sunny day, which allowed us to enjoy the spectacular panoramic views down to Haría and up to Monte Corona in the north, and over to the east including Tabayesco, Punta Mujeres and right across to the ocean.
After an hour of exploring and capturing many photos, we left the mirador and turn left to walk back along the 100 metres of road to re-join the GR 131 trail.
Unfortunately, it has been impossible to provide parking for more than three vehicles as the Mirador is on a very sharp blind bend on a dangerous section of the road. PLEASE take extra care on this section, as both tourists and locals have been parking on the roadside and causing concern for other road users. I believe it is an accident waiting to happen unless something is done to resolve the situation.
From here it’s downhill all the way. At this time of year, the track is starting to show some colour with the vegetation which makes a full covering on both sides of the track. We walk past a few terraces which have recently been attended and a local farmer has planted out to grow some of his produce.
The track cuts across the road a couple more times and eventually leads you down into the outskirts of Haría by the Sports Stadium (Pabellón de Deportes).
From here you can also continue into the town of Haria and have a coffee in the main plaza or tapas at the many great places. We visited a place where the locals used to take their donkeys and camels for water and gathered water as it ran down from the hills.
In Haría you could have previously dropped off another car to take you back up to the starting point. The alternatives are a tough hike back up the way you came or catching a taxi back up to the Mirador Restaurante Los Helechos, which is what we did. It was only about 10 euros between us all – an easy solution.
WALK INFORMATION
This is a linear 4.5km walk which should take you approximately 1 and a half hours to complete. The terrain is generally easy although challenging in some place.
You can take the number 7 or 26 from Arrecife to Haria if you don’t want to use your car. A shuttle bus operates free of charge from the Library in Haría to the new Mirador, but only on Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays from 11:00am – 3pm.
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