Árbol Garoé

El Hierro


According to legend, the Bimbaches' ancient holy tree, the Garoé, miraculously spouted water, providing for the islanders and their animals. Today we know it’s really no miracle – mist in the air condenses on the tree’s leaves and produces fresh water. The original tree was felled by a hurricane in 1610 and wasn't replaced with the current lime tree until 1949. It's 2.6km down a signposted track off the HI10 (800m north of San Andrés), with some steep, rocky sections.

From the small visitor centre, several appealing walking trails head off into the hills, including the PREH7 to/from El Mocanal (3km), Pozo de las Calcosas (6km) or, in the opposite direction, San Andrés (3.5km), and the 16km PREH11 San Andrés–Valverde loop.


Lonely Planet's must-see attractions

Nearby El Hierro attractions

1. Casa de las Quinteras

1.72 MILES

At this cluster of small yellow-washed stone houses turned ethnographic museum, multilanguage exhibits on rural island life take in traditional clothing…

2. Ermita de San Pedro

1.81 MILES

Dating to the 17th century, this whitewashed roadside church with a stone-adorned tower and a Mudéjar-style artesonado (ceiling of interlaced beams with…

3. Plaza Quintero Núñez

1.88 MILES

The town's central, multilevel plaza hosts a couple of bars and restaurants, along with the graceful town hall (built in typical Canarian style) and the…

5. Mirador de la Peña

2.46 MILES

Designed by famous Lanzarote-born artist César Manrique in 1989, the clifftop Mirador de la Peña (just a kilometre west of agricultural hamlet Guarazoca)…

6. Villa Juan

2.98 MILES

As you wander around Las Puntas you'll inevitably stumble across Villa Juan, a low-rise whitewashed creation with sky-blue windows, thought to have been…

7. Pozo de las Calcosas

3.05 MILES

Clustered around a natural north-coast pool, this 18th-century summer village of traditional generations-old small houses made of lava rock (called…