IllustrationLos Volcanes is a landscape to explore slowly.
Los Volcanes is a landscape to explore slowly. From the path, dark lava spreads towards a line of cones, while changes in light pick out edges and folds that are easy to miss from a moving car. For a first visit, concentrate on Volcán del Cuervo rather than trying to cover the whole natural park. The approach, the view into the crater and a few careful stops are enough to make a rewarding outing.
Cuervo is in Los Volcanes Natural Park, beside the separately protected Timanfaya National Park. The familiar names can be confusing: walking here is a different visit from taking Timanfaya’s Ruta de los Volcanes bus circuit. Follow the signed approach from the LZ-56 parking area. The documented visitor trail includes an entry into the crater; use that marked connection only when it is open, rather than climbing the cone to find your own way in.
The wide view is only half the story. Try finding a patch of lichen on rock beside the path, then compare it with the almost bare ground around it. Leave everything in place, including loose stones. These are slow-changing surfaces where a shortcut or a pile of souvenirs can outlast a visit by many years. Families can make the walk a series of small discoveries: a change in colour, a shape that looks like a frozen wave, or one living thing surviving in an unlikely place. Turn your visit into a safari! Use the Snappit app to scan and log wildlife sightings here.
Volcán del Cuervo is associated with the beginning of Lanzarote’s great 1730–1736 eruption sequence. Official tourism accounts date its opening to 1 September 1730. The wider park also contains lava from the 1824 eruptions and older patches of land that escaped burial. These older “islands” of ground help explain why vegetation can differ so much across a landscape that first appears uniformly dark. Today’s protected-area names came later. In 1994, the earlier La Geria protected area was separated into Los Volcanes Natural Park and the La Geria Protected Landscape. Los Volcanes extends around the neighbouring national park, with its own identity and boundaries. Recent restoration has focused on repairing visitor damage and closing unauthorised paths, a reminder that protecting the geology is part of protecting the habitat.
Choose the short Cuervo walk if the crater is your main goal, or the longer signed circuit if everyone wants more time outside. Read a panel, stop for a broad landscape view and spend a few minutes looking closely at the rock beside the trail. Keep the crater visit within the marked route and return with enough daylight to find your transport comfortably.
In hot weather, shorten the walk and avoid the middle of the day. Take a light windproof layer in cooler months. Postpone the outing during strong wind, poor visibility, heavy rain or adverse-weather restrictions; there is little benefit in pressing on when you cannot comfortably look around.
Loose material and uneven volcanic ground can make walking aids, small wheels and pushchairs difficult to use. Ask the Cabildo about the current surface, barriers and crater approach before travelling if you need a particular level of access. Include the return journey when deciding whether the route suits your group.
A marked approach to the interior of Volcán del Cuervo, when the path is open.
Lava textures and cone profiles that make the island’s volcanic story tangible.
Small patches of lichen that reward a closer, gentler look.
A choice between a shorter crater-focused visit and a longer signed walk.
Choose the short option shown on the current trailhead information. Follow the marked approach and, if open, the designated connection into the crater before returning to the same parking area. Leave the outer circuit for another visit if heat, wind or tired legs make it unappealing.
Low difficulty in the educational description refers to walking. Check loose surfaces, barriers and the crater approach if using a mobility aid or pushchair.
Choose this option when the longer route is open and the whole group is comfortable continuing. The changing angle on the cone is the reason to take your time. Add the marked crater-interior connection only as directed on site, and finish back at the original parking area.
Low difficulty in the educational description refers to walking. Check loose surfaces, barriers and the crater approach if using a mobility aid or pushchair.
Before leaving, check the weather and access information and fill your water bottles. At the parking area, read the current board and choose the shorter or longer option together. During the walk, make three proper stops: one for the broad landscape, one for a rock or lichen detail, and one for the crater view. Keep a little time in reserve for the return and a comfortable pickup.
From the path, look for a surface that seems smooth, another that is rough, and a patch made of small loose fragments. Sketch each or photograph it without stepping away from the trail. Compare your ideas with an interpretation panel instead of taking a sample home.
Choose a safe stopping place that leaves room for others. List the colours you can actually see in the rock, then look again when a cloud passes. A family can compare notes: one person may notice a pale lichen patch while another is watching a reddish cone.
Try one wide frame showing the cone in its landscape, then one close detail reached from the path. Keep people on the authorised ground, and use your camera’s zoom rather than moving closer to fragile surfaces.
Keep Cuervo for a day when you can enjoy being outside. If conditions are poor, choose an indoor stop elsewhere on Lanzarote and return when the walk will be comfortable. Do not shelter in an unmarked cave or volcanic opening.
Look for small pale or coloured growths on rocks visible from the path. The park’s official natural-history account identifies Stereocaulon and Ramalina among its characteristic lichen genera. These are starting points for curiosity, not enough to name every patch: photograph the growth and its setting without touching or collecting it.
The broader park’s flora includes Lanzarote aeonium, Aeonium lancerottense, documented by the regional nature portal. It is a useful reminder that a sparse landscape can still support distinctive plants. Keep any plant you notice in its setting; identifying a local endemic needs more than matching a leaf shape to a familiar garden plant.
Kestrels are documented in the park’s older inland-route literature. If a small falcon draws your attention, stop where you are and use binoculars rather than moving off the path. This is a broader-park historical record, so let an encounter be a bonus to the geology-focused Cuervo walk.
Ravens also appear in the same inland park account. Watch any bird from a distance and pay attention to its movement and calls without trying to lure it closer. Keep snacks packed away: feeding birds changes their behaviour and encourages them towards busy visitor areas.
Watch from the marked path, keep your distance and never feed animals. Leave plants, lichens and stones untouched. The bird examples come from a historical account of the wider park; sightings at Cuervo depend on the day and are never promised.
Here, an islote can mean older ground left exposed while younger lava flowed around it. The wider park contains these older patches as well as recent volcanic surfaces, which helps explain the contrast in its vegetation.
Sparse vegetation does not make this empty ground. Lava surfaces support lichen communities, while different plants persist on older land. Try asking two questions at a stop: what created this surface, and what can live on it now?
Give yourself time to pause and read, and carry a layer even when leaving the coast in sunshine. Check the forecast for Tinajo and the wider Lanzarote warning area before choosing your start time.
Choose an earlier start, carry enough water and keep the route shorter if necessary. If heat, airborne dust or visibility makes an exposed walk uncomfortable, save Cuervo for a better day rather than treating the circuit as something to complete at any cost.
Allow for loose or slippery footing and a more tiring return into the wind. Avoid beginning a full circuit close to sunset, and follow any weather-related restrictions. Strong wind or heavy rain is a good reason to change plans.
Use the signed Cuervo access from the LZ-56 and read the information there before starting. Explanatory panels are described along the visitor route. Parking layout and path access may have changed during restoration; use only the areas currently designated for visitors.
Take water and any food you need, and use toilets before the walk. Do not make the outing depend on finding a shop, drinking-water point, toilet or staffed reception at the Cuervo car park. Take all packaging and food scraps away.
The Cabildo’s environmental-education department publishes the Cuervo school activity. Schools and organised groups should contact it in advance to discuss the route, group arrangements and support needs. The listed activity duration is about three hours, including educational work.
Navigate to the signed Volcán del Cuervo parking area on the LZ-56, rather than to a general pin for Los Volcanes or the Timanfaya entrance. If using a taxi, agree the return pickup point and time before walking. Do not use the road verge as an overflow car park.
Check whether an organised excursion or a prearranged taxi suits your day. Confirm the exact drop-off and return arrangements before committing. Do not assume that an island bus passing through a nearby village provides a safe walk along the LZ-56 to the trailhead.
Ask the Cabildo for current advice on the parking-to-path connection, loose ground, any narrowed sections and access into the crater. Describe your actual needs rather than relying on a generic “easy” label. Turn back before fatigue makes the return difficult.
For people who cannot use a conventional wheelchair on this terrain, the Cabildo describes a Joëlette-assisted option within its educational activities, in collaboration with Cruz Roja. Ask whether the Cuervo outing can be arranged for your party; trained support, availability and the chosen route must be confirmed beforehand.
Restoration announced in December 2025 included Cuervo’s crater area, parking and nearby LZ-56 access. Ask about current arrangements and follow the trailhead signs, especially where old tracks have been blocked. Do not use a well-worn shortcut as proof that it is still allowed.
Each card links to a full Explore page with photos, traits, and fun facts.
Start with the big picture, then zoom in to explore individual wildlife observations around this place.
Check the latest access arrangements before leaving. Restoration has affected the Cuervo area, including its parking and unauthorised paths; current signs and barriers take priority over an old map.
Wear closed shoes with grip and carry drinking water, sun protection and a windproof layer. Pack enough for the whole walk rather than relying on services at the trailhead.
Use the designated LZ-56 parking area. If it is full or closed, return later or change your plan rather than stopping on a road verge or driving onto lava.
Stay on the marked visitor trail, including inside the crater. Do not climb the cone, improvise a rim walk or cut across the lava to make a shorter circuit.
Leave rocks, volcanic gravel, plants and lichens where they are. Do not build cairns, write in the ground or add your own trail markers.
Keep children close enough to help on loose ground. A shorter walk with time to look is better than finishing a circuit after everyone has had enough.
Photograph from the path and keep it clear for other walkers. Follow the published no-drone instruction for the Cuervo route.
Keep your return simple
arrange a pickup in advance if using a taxi, carry a charged phone, and let someone know your plan if walking alone.
Recent snaps will appear here as new observations are added.
Maryland, US
You might spot White-Tailed Deer and Eastern Gray Squirrel.
View guide →
District of Columbia, US
You might spot Eastern Gray Squirrel, Duck, and House Sparrow.
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Illinois, US
You might spot American Robin, Canada Goose, and House Sparrow.
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Virginia, US
You might spot Spotted Lanternfly and Northern Cardinal.
View guide →
Take the discovery with you
Identify the wildlife you spot, learn as you go, and keep a collection of the adventure.
