07. San Mateo - Valsequillo
GENERAL CHARACTERIZATION.
This route covers the municipalities of Vega de San Mateo and Valsequillo. Along the way, you can see notable changes in the landscape. This route presents two distinct slopes of the midlands in Gran Canaria: the windward slope and the transition to the leeward slope.
As we move deeper into the leeward side of Gran Canaria, the climate becomes more arid, as it does further down the coast. This explains why rainfall is lower in the Tenteniguada and Valsequillo basins than in the Vega de San Mateo. Temperatures are also generally somewhat warmer in the Valsequillo basin than in the Guiniguada basin.
The geology of the area is similar in both municipalities. The agglomerate and lava flows of the Roque Nublo and Pre-Roque Nublo cycles are present in the upper reaches. In the lower reaches, lava materials from the Fuster Basaltic Series II and III predominate.
The mid-mountain areas have been forested with laurel forest and fayal-heath forest, while the peak areas are home to pine forests and broom-codesar forests. Finally, in the areas closest to the coast, thermophilous forests predominate (wild olive trees, mastic trees, and mastic trees). All of these vegetation levels have been greatly altered by human activity.
Agricultural and livestock farming activities stand out among the land's human uses, both in the Vega de San Mateo, as we have already seen (see routes 4 and 5), and in Valsequillo and El Helechal. In the latter municipality—Valsequillo—there are abundant goat farms, with a high production of industrial cheese. There are also important capitalized crops, such as strawberries, and others for domestic sale, such as vegetables and greens, among others. El Helechal is an area for outdoor crops, cut flowers (carnations, lilies, everlasting flowers, etc.) and leafy vegetables, such as lettuce and chard.
Almond production, as in the municipality of Tejeda, is notable here. For this reason, the Almond Blossom Festival is also celebrated in Valsequillo in January. This tree brings a striking color and uniqueness to this area.
The habitat has grown significantly throughout the municipality's main town and in the central areas, particularly the construction types of semi-detached villas and duplexes, used as primary and secondary homes.
The route connecting the two municipalities is in very good condition, allowing both to be well connected by both public and private transportation.
The trail is easier to follow from Vega de San Mateo to Valsequillo, as most of the slopes are downhill, making walking easier.
Section 1: San Mateo - El Montañón
This trail begins in the village of Vega de San Mateo, in the La Higuera neighborhood, directly opposite the building currently shared by the Social Services department of the Vega de San Mateo town council and the Association of Municipalities of Medianías de Gran Canaria. We continue along El Cantillo Street into the neighborhood, first passing a light tower and several houses. At the first fork, turn left, reaching a bridge that we must cross. At another intersection, we ascend to the right.
We continue along the main road, ignoring any intersections we encounter. After 15 or 20 minutes, we reach the end of the street and the start of a trail. This leads us to the asphalt road that, in turn, takes us to Lomo del Montañón, heading E 90º.
From this point, we have magnificent views of the village and the agricultural plain of the municipality we are leaving behind, the Vega de San Mateo. We see a large number of brooms, brooms, tabaibas, brambles, and tederas, almost all of them interesting species for livestock fodder.
Section 2: El Montañón - El Helechal
Looking ahead, we see the Valsequillo Valley and the San Miguel Ravine. We cross to our left, as we spot an isolated house. We continue along the Lomo del Montañón and come to a sign indicating that we are in El Montañón. We take the path to the right, which leads to Valsequillo. We take a paved road—we can see, to our left, the city of Las Palmas de Gran Canaria in the background and, closer to us, the town of Santa Brígida and El Monte Lentiscal; while, to the right, we see the villages of Valsequillo, Tenteniguada, and El Helechal.
After passing through a high-voltage tower, we reach the cluster of houses in Degollada de Los Cardos. At this point, a gravel track begins that leads us to an old single-family school. About 40 or 50 meters beyond this, we come across the Vueltas del Helechal trail, which we follow downhill. It begins right at the height of two pools of water at the bottom of the ravine, on the Llano del Helechal, and ends at the first houses in this area, where we take a dirt track again.
Section 3: El Helechal - Valsequillo
We immediately see the El Helechal viewpoint, toward which we are heading. To reach it, we must travel along the El Helechal asphalt road until we reach a "no parking" sign. Turning left, we soon see a light tower. We are now very close to the base of the El Helechal cone. Although the climb is not necessary to continue the route, we can approach this natural viewpoint, with sweeping views of the basin that begins in Tenteniguada and ends in Telde. We must take extreme care not to miss the path, which rejoins next to a house we see at the beginning of the climb, after crossing the vehicle protection fence. Two paths appear side by side, and we must then choose the one on the right, the one closest to the telephone pole. Following this path, we pass over the La Caldereta firing range, from where we can see areas of red ochre and clays of great interest for pottery.
From the road, we see a covered pond below. This access leads us to the center of Valsequillo. Passing through the Majuelo area until reaching La Orilla Street, as we descend, we come across a sign indicating that we are on the GC-812, specifically at km 0. After crossing this sign, we enter Sol Street, which ends at León y Castillo, an urban road that leads us to the square of the San Miguel Church.
For three hours, we traveled 6 kilometers with magnificent views of Valsequillo, Tenteniguada, and the San Miguel Ravine to the east, as well as San Mateo and part of Guiniguada, to the north of the island.
