Parque Natural El Montillo in Tenerife

Parque Natural El Montillo, with its nearly 30,000m², has become one of the best public parks in Tenerife. Its facilities include waterfalls, a children's area, a dog park, a café and an amphitheatre. A perfect place to switch off and spend the day.

Parking

Parque El Montillo has a free parking area, though there aren't many spaces. One of them is the one you can see in the photo below. We went on a weekday morning, so we had no trouble finding a spot.

What to see at Parque El Montillo

We'd heard great things about this park, so we decided to visit. We went on a Thursday morning, trying to avoid the weekend crowds. As soon as you walk into Parque El Montillo, the first thing that strikes you is the greenery: lots of fruit trees and local plants fill the place. The park is very well signposted, with panels that include a map and show you where you are at all times.

There are also several picnic areas, perfect for bringing some food and spending the day.

Children's playground

The playground is enormous and has several areas with slides, swings and even a zip line. The flooring is beach sand, so I'd recommend the kids wear sandals or go barefoot. Don't worry — there are fountains around the park where they can wash their feet at the end. The most important thing is that they have fun.

All the activities are signposted with the recommended minimum age and a reminder of the rules.

One of the things we liked most about the El Montillo playground was the scent from the fig tree right in the middle of the play area. There are fruit trees everywhere: pear trees, fig trees, avocado trees and more. It was lovely to see some children trying to pick fruit off the trees to eat.

El Montillo café

The park also has a lovely café with two terraces. The prices are quite affordable — you can see the menu below. We decided to have a bite and honestly everything was delicious; we recommend the special burger. It's just €2.50 and it's gorgeous. The café is also a good place to sit for a while in the shade, since the park doesn't have many spots to shelter from the sun other than under the fruit trees.

Outdoor gym

Next to the café is the outdoor gym (parque biosaludable), where older visitors can keep fit using various machines.

Dog park

Dogs have their own area at Parque El Montillo too — a full dog park where they can exercise. There's also a fountain so they can have a drink.

Sports circuit

Opposite the dog park, for the more active, there's a sports circuit.

Other areas of the park

The park also has an amphitheatre, a sports court, a calisthenics area, a viewpoint and a small lake to relax by.

If you look closely, you'll notice a beetle figure appears in several parts of the park. In 2011 the Tenerife Association of Friends of Nature (ATAN) warned that building the park could affect an endemic, endangered beetle species, Pimelia radula radula. Apparently, the beetle wasn't found where the park was built.

What we've shown you is only the first phase of the project. The second phase plans, among other things, to finish the skatepark and create a network of trails.

How to get there and opening hours

Parque Natural El Montillo is in La Matanza de Acentejo, in the north of Tenerife. The address is Calle Carretera de San Antonio, 23, 38379 La Matanza de Acentejo, almost in the centre of the village. There's free parking and buses 101, 102 and 30 also stop here.

It opens every day from 8:00 to 20:30, except Fridays and Saturdays when it opens from 8:00 to 21:00.

Our verdict

We loved Parque El Montillo. We think it's a perfect place to switch off and have fun. It's true that we missed some shade, and a few bins for visitors to recycle their rubbish.

And you — have you visited the park yet? I'd love to hear what you think.

If you're up in the north of Tenerife, very close by you've got La Giganta de Santa Úrsula, another great family plan.