You will be surprised to find a very green, very natural environment once you leave the dry coastline and head for the Teide National Park. In fact, all of a sudden you get empty roads that wind up the hills in tight serpentines. Just take your time and enjoy the ride and its many viewpoints.

The scenery once again changes when you approach Boca de Tauce. Now it's very similar to Utah or Arizona. At 1,980 meters above sea, there are no trees but just rocks.

Two visitors at the entrance of the Teide National Park admire the majestic scenery of the Pico del Teide in the back with its 3,718 meters height. The mountain tip, by the way, is the highest point in Spain.

A few miles down the road, right before the Visitor Center, the mountains protect the valley of the National Park from the weather at the southern side of Tenerife.

This road leads directly to the "Teleferico" which brings you conveniently to the top of the mountain. I can't help but think of trip to the USA then seeing this photo.

The single most important attraction (apart from the Teide mountain) at the National Park is the rock formation called "Los Roques", "Roque Cinchado", or "Roques de Garcia".

Even in low-season, hundreds of tourists are visiting "Los Roques". The buses conveniently parked right in front of the rocks, it's easy to enjoy the scenery. But why, oh why, are all those engines running?

Another photo of "Los Roques". I really like the hard contrast of the rocks against the bright sunlight.

This photo shows the view from Roque Cinchado through the valley towards Boca de Tauce. We are already well above 2,000 meters above sea level, but the mountains to the left seem to be still quite tall. Awesome.

A small church sits next to the National Parks visitor center which also contains the "Parador de Canadas del Teide", a hotel and restaurant run by the state. As you can imagine, a hotel located in such a unique location needs to be reserved quite in advance!

This is the the Pico Viejo, the smaller of the two vulcanic mountains in the National Park. You can clearly see the black lava - a unique mark of this mountain. This view is from South-West.

A photo of the desert-like environment north-east of the National Parks visitor center. The sun was already creating long shadows, adding to the strange atmosphere of the place.