Masca is a small mountain village on the island of

Tenerife Tenerife ( ; ; formerly spelled ''Teneriffe'') is the largest and most populous island of the Canary Islands, an Autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Spain. With a land area of and a population of 965,575 inhabitants as of A ...

. It was originally a

Guanche Guanche may refer to: *Guanches, the indigenous people of the Canary Islands *Guanche language, an extinct language, spoken by the Guanches until the 16th or 17th century *''Conus guanche ''Conus guanche'' is a species of sea snail, a marine ga ...

settlement before the Spanish conquest in 1496. The village is now home to around 90 inhabitants. The village lies at an altitude of 650 m in the

Macizo de Teno The Teno massif () is one of three volcanic formations that gave rise to Tenerife, Canary Islands, Spain. It is located in the northwestern part of the island between the towns of Santiago del Teide, Los Silos, El Tanque and Buenavista del Nor ...

mountains, which extend up to the northwesternmost point of Tenerife. Forests including cypresses and palm trees abound. The village lies at the head of the Masca Gorge. The trail from the village down the gorge to the beach on the

Atlantic Ocean The Atlantic Ocean is the second largest of the world's five borders of the oceans, oceanic divisions, with an area of about . It covers approximately 17% of Earth#Surface, Earth's surface and about 24% of its water surface area. During the ...

is a popular, though strenuous, hiking route, which takes about 3 hours each way. These "hiking routes" are not just demanding, but also strenuous with, conditions that can very easily claim your life, should you venture into them unprepared.

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{{Authority control Populated places in Tenerife