Drive the main road out of Costa Adeje toward Arona and you’ll pass within a couple of minutes of one of the most photographed ravines on the island without ever knowing it’s there. Barranco del Infierno sits tucked into the hills right behind the resort strip — and unlike almost everywhere else on this list of things to do near Adeje, you can’t just turn up and walk in.
Why you can’t just show up
The ravine is a protected natural reserve, and access is capped at roughly 300 visitors a day. That’s not a marketing gimmick to create urgency — it’s a genuine conservation measure, and the gate really does close once the day’s slots are gone. Turn up without a booking in August expecting to buy a ticket on-site and you’ll most likely be turned away, which is a rough way to end a morning if you’ve already arranged a car and driven out there.
The upside of the cap is that the trail rarely feels crowded once you’re on it, even in peak season — something most of Tenerife’s genuinely spectacular spots can’t say for themselves.
Booking the permit
Reservations are handled directly through the reserve’s own official booking site, not through general ticket resellers — worth knowing since a few unofficial-looking booking pages for Tenerife attractions have popped up over the years charging a markup for something that’s cheap to book directly. Search for the official Barranco del Infierno reservation page, pick your date and an available time slot, and you’ll get a confirmation to bring with you (digital is fine, but a screenshot as backup doesn’t hurt in case signal is patchy in the car park).
Pricing has hovered somewhere in the low double digits in euros per adult in recent years, with the reserve setting and adjusting it directly rather than through any third party — worth double-checking the current figure at the point of booking rather than relying on a number you saw somewhere online, since these things do get revised.
Slots fill up faster than you’d expect for something this under-the-radar internationally — weekends and the school-holiday months especially — so this isn’t really a same-week booking if you have a specific date in mind. If you’re building an itinerary around a rental car already booked for a set week, it’s worth locking in the ravine slot before anything else you’re flexible on.
What the walk actually involves
It’s an out-and-back trail of a little over 6km round trip, generally taking somewhere between two and three and a half hours depending on pace and how long you linger at the far end. The path itself is well maintained and doesn’t demand technical hiking experience — this is accessible to reasonably fit walkers of most ages, not a scramble — but “easy” here means easy by ravine-hike standards, not flat-pavement easy. Expect uneven ground, some exposed rocky sections, and enough elevation change that trainers rather than sandals are the right call.
A helmet is mandatory for the walk, which surprises some first-timers — it’s provided at the entrance rather than something you need to bring, so don’t go hunting for one beforehand. Bring your own water, since there’s nowhere to refill along the route, and sun protection matters more than the shaded canyon walls might suggest, particularly on the exposed opening stretch before the trail drops into denser vegetation.
The reward at the end is a genuine waterfall — something that still catches people off guard on a volcanic island better known for black-sand beaches and lunar summit landscapes than jungle-green ravines and running water.
Getting there from Costa Adeje
This is one of the shortest “drive to a proper hike” options anywhere in the south of Tenerife — the trailhead sits at the edge of Adeje old town, close enough to the resort belt that it barely counts as a road trip. If you’re already staying in the area, this is arguably the single easiest genuinely spectacular hike to reach with a rental car rather than a tour bus. For context on the town itself before or after your walk, our Adeje old town guide covers what else is worth seeing in the immediate area, and if you haven’t sorted the car itself yet, our Costa Adeje car hire guide covers pickup options right where you’ll need one.
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There’s parking near the entrance, though — as with most popular fixed-capacity attractions on the island — arriving for your booked slot rather than drifting in whenever is the safer plan if you want to avoid circling for a space.
How it compares to Masca
If you’ve already read our guide to driving the TF-436 to Masca, the parallels here are obvious — both are protected sites with capped or restricted access. But they’re not interchangeable experiences, and picking between them (or fitting both into a longer trip) comes down to a few real differences.
| Barranco del Infierno | Masca Gorge | |
|---|---|---|
| Distance from Costa Adeje | Roughly 10 minutes | Around 45 minutes to an hour |
| Trail length | ~6.5km round trip | Around 8km, more technical |
| Difficulty | Easy-to-moderate, well-maintained path | More demanding, exposed scrambling sections |
| Booking pressure | Fills up, but generally manageable a week or two out | Notoriously harder to book, especially peak months |
| Feel | Accessible half-day outing | A proper full-day expedition |
Neither one makes the other redundant — plenty of visitors do both on the same trip, usually a few days apart given how different they feel on the ground. If you only have time for one and you’re staying in the south without a full day to spare, Barranco del Infierno is the more realistic fit; Masca is the one to build a whole day’s itinerary around.
Timing it well
Opening hours shift a little between summer and winter, with earlier morning slots generally the ones to aim for regardless of season — both because the light in the ravine is better before midday and because the exposed opening stretch is far more comfortable before the sun’s properly up in July and August. Booking the first available slot of the day isn’t just a nice-to-have here; it’s genuinely a different, cooler walk than the same trail at midday in high summer.
Outside the peak summer months, the whole experience calms down noticeably — cooler air, easier parking, and slots that don’t vanish within days of opening. If your travel dates are flexible and the ravine is a priority rather than an add-on, spring and autumn are the more forgiving windows.
Is it worth it if you’ve only got one hiking slot on your trip?
This comes up a lot when people are weighing Barranco del Infierno against everything else on a short southern-Tenerife trip — Siam Park, the beaches, a day trip up to Teide. The honest answer is that it earns its reputation. It’s not padded out with hype the way some heavily marketed attractions are; the waterfall at the end is real, the canyon walls genuinely tower over the path in places, and the whole thing is compact enough that it doesn’t eat your whole day the way Teide or Masca can. For families with older kids or anyone who wants “a real hike” without committing to something that demands a 6am start, this is usually the one that fits.
Where it’s less of a natural fit: anyone with mobility limitations, since the terrain — while not technical — isn’t level or paved, and there’s no shortcut version of the walk. The reserve doesn’t offer a partial-access option; it’s the full out-and-back or nothing.
A few things worth knowing before you go
Cancellations happen fairly regularly given how far in advance some people book, so if your preferred date shows nothing available, it’s worth checking back periodically rather than assuming the door’s closed. The reserve does close entirely during genuinely adverse weather — heavy rain raises real flash-flood risk in a narrow ravine — and on those days the booking system itself typically reflects the closure rather than leaving you to find out at the gate.
If hiking more broadly is part of your Tenerife plans beyond this one trail, our best hikes on the island guide rounds up where else is worth the drive, with the practicalities that tend to matter more once you’re behind the wheel rather than on a coach tour.
For a trail that sits this close to one of the busiest resort strips in the Canaries, Barranco del Infierno manages to feel like a genuinely different island for a couple of hours — which is probably the best case anyone can make for renting a car in the first place instead of never leaving the pool.
Pack light for the walk itself — a small daypack with water, sun cream and maybe a snack is plenty, since there’s nowhere to buy anything once you’re past the entrance gate. Leave anything you don’t need in the car rather than carrying it, and it’s worth having a plan for where you’re parked once you’re done, since the entrance area gets busy around the changeover between morning slots.
