Las Mercedes: Anaga, Trails and Festival Traditions

Las Mercedes brings together access to the Anaga Rural Park, hiking trails, a long-standing festival tradition, and regional cuisine to help you plan your trip.

Las Mercedes and the Anaga Rural Park

Las Mercedes is considered the main gateway to the Anaga Rural Park. The park begins at the Mirador de Jardina viewpoint, where the Monteverde also begins. This makes Anaga a natural focus for your trip if you want to combine scenery and hiking trails with a visit to the town. The Llano de los Loros viewpoint is one of the destinations along hiking trail PR-TF1.

Choose hiking trails by route and destination

Hiking trail PR-TF1 Las Mercedes–Cruz del Carmen connects Las Mercedes to the visitor centre of the Anaga Rural Park via the Monte de Las Mercedes. It starts at Plaza de Las Mercedes, passes through the Monteverde to Llano de los Viejos, which has a recreational area, and then climbs to the Llano de los Loros viewpoint. Along the way, the trail crosses the TF-12 road twice. This sequence of starting point, intermediate stop, and viewpoint makes the route easy to follow. Before setting out, check the official status with Tenerife ON.

The Camino Viejo de Las Mercedes leads from La Laguna’s historic centre to hiking trail PR-TF1. Another route in the area around Las Mercedes is the approved PR-TF10: it runs through the Anaga Rural Park from Cruz del Carmen to Punta del Hidalgo, is linear and moderately difficult, and is 10.4 kilometres long. If you are comparing hiking options, the PR-TF10’s length and difficulty rating provide a useful guide; for the PR-TF1, you can follow the route described above. You should also check the official trail status before setting out on the PR-TF10.

Getting there and finding your way

TITSA bus route 270 connects the Intercambiador with Las Mercedes via Las Canteras. Timetables may change; check the details with TITSA before travelling. Route 3 reaches Las Mercedes after departing from Pico del Inglés, then continues towards La Laguna via the Camino de Las Mercedes, also known as Camino de Las Peras. Road conditions may change.

Festival traditions and history

The Romería de Las Mercedes, held in honour of San Isidro Labrador and Santa María de la Cabeza, is a festival tradition that has been celebrated for more than half a century and brings locals and visitors together. It includes decorated floats, rondallas, traditional Canarian dance groups, and herds of livestock. Annual attendance, dates, and programme may vary. So, if you want to plan your trip around the celebrations, check the specific event dates for the year you plan to travel.

The area’s earlier agricultural links are also part of its history: before the Spanish conquest of Tenerife, the Guanches used Las Mercedes as farmland. Later, the town was one of the historic milk-producing areas from which milk was transported to urban centres. The surviving Camino de las Lecheras connects the valleys of La Laguna with Santa Cruz, making this link between production and transport easy to understand.

Regional cuisine

Restaurants and guachinches along the road towards Cruz del Carmen serve visitors grilled meat, local cheese, escaldones de gofio, garbanzas compuestas, and wines from Anaga. These dishes give you a concrete taste of the regional cuisine. Which establishments are open and which dishes are on the menu may change; check the latest details before your visit.

Discover more destinations: Las Palomas, El Fraile, Arico el Nuevo, Puerto De La Cruz, Las Cañadas del Teide, Tegueste, San Juan del Reparo, Acojeja.

For the broader travel overview: Tenerife.