Los Tilos Forest

A primitive forest in La Palma

Los Tilos Forest is an explosion of biodiversity and greenness that you will fall in love with on your first visit. A passive, peaceful jungle where mosses, silence and the smell of leaves abound. Los Tilos (or Los Tiles, its official name) is one of the few strongholds left in the world when it comes to laurisilva; a dense, verdant, primitive forest full of broad-leaved trees that dominated the planet millions of years ago. This is the reason why Los Tilos was declared a Biosphere Reserve by Unesco in 2002; a protection which nowadays encompasses the entire island of La Palma.

Trekking in Los Tilos Forest

The laurel forest is the leading lady in the story of La Palma and is located in the north-east of the island, 24 kilometres by road from the city of Santa Cruz and just four from the centre of Los Sauces. The road ends at the Los Tilos visitors’ centre, which has themed rooms, videos and a cafeteria. To enter into the forest there are some excellent self-guided walks to choose from, two of which are especially good. One is 2.5 kilometres long, which takes you around the heart of the forest, while the other climbs up 1,000 metres until you reach the refreshing springs of Marcos and Cordero.

Height

260 m

Flora interest

Catering

Parking

Perfoming center

Trekking routes

Wildlife interest

San Andrés y Sauces

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Sustainability

Never leave waste of any type lying around, including cigarette butts. Leftover food leads to a proliferation of rats and wild cats, which pose a serious threat to the fauna.
Respect the animals. Do not bother them or feed them. If you see an injured specimen, you can call the emergency number: 112. Do not pick flowers or plants.
Do not pick up or take away stones or any other item from the natural environment. And do not move them to pile them up into sadly famous 'towers'.
Do not walk in areas where it is not allowed and respect the signposting along trails. Leaving the set paths causes damage to the environment and could also be dangerous for you and anyone with you.
Do not light fires outside the permitted areas and be especially careful during the summer months.
Try not to alter the peace of the environment with excessive noise (loud music, yelling, etc.).