November/December 2018 we were staying in Charco del Palo on Lanzarote for 3 weeks, a complete Naturist village where you can meander about totally in your birthday suit, no problem. But, how about elsewhere on the island which has a very nice climate?
We looked at the various walking/hiking paths that exist on the island and figured that it should be possible to walk some of those Au Naturel, naked thus. It took some time to assemble ideas in between all our other activities but in the latter half of the vacation we managed to get up early enough to the first site for a trial. You have to be early to beat the crowds as it being a vacation island you do get hordes of buses and other holiday makers later in the morning on the more popular sites.
Here below the map of the walk.
This walk is nice and mostly flatish on a good volcanic gravel path. Very interesting as you can actually go into the volcano a bit via the side wall that was blown out originally.
As everywhere stick to the path, besides the fact that off the path it’s usually un-walkable due to the nature of the jagged lava, it’s also to protect the fragile nature of nature.
As there is mostly a good view of the path you can walk Au Naturel here relative risk free, managed about 65% of the route. We do tend to keep textiles in mind so get covered up with a sarong if we spot people, not out of shame but not to upset them since we’re a bit unsure about the legality of naked walking in Spain.
Our second walk we actually could have walked much more and longer but we were running out of time as we booked a dive for the afternoon. This walk did give us a very good taste of what it could be if you are early enough. Parking at the beginning of this walk, see below, can be tough if you are not early, there is very little parking space. The first part of the walk leads to a smaller vulcano that you can walk completely inside of, very impressive.
It’s a very up and downish walk so the view of the path ahead is not the greatest so it’s not always possible to see others coming the opposite direction in time to cover up.
The second part of the walk here has various options one of which will lead you up partially on the first vulcano and crossing a lava field between both volcano’s after which you can walk up via a well worn path up to the rim of the next, much larger, volcano. Here you can do a partial walk on the rim of the volcano and partial at the foot (the volcano rim is very treacherous for about 40% and un-walkable unfortunately). The path is pretty good and the views from the rim, inside the volcano and surrounding countryside, are stunning and so well worth the hike up! We unfortunately did not have enough time to go all the way around and had to walk back.
There are various tracks (not visible on Google Maps, use OpenStreet Maps for this) that even go beyond the volcano good for many hours of walking. We managed to do 75% of the about 12 km we did Au Naturel so this was an absolute great walk and so worth doing all the way, and, as a famous saying says “we’ll be back!”. Keep in mind when the sun is higher on the sky it does tend to get pretty warm here so be ready with refreshments and suntan lotion!
We hope to do this walk again and also seen some other walks that we think are possibly very doable in the buff. One of these could be the coastal walk of the National Park Timanfaya. It runs from El Golfo in the south till just about the next road north of the park. It seems somewhere between 9 and 14 km long (depends on who tells you) one way so possibly it would be good to drop the car at one end, take a taxi to the other and walk back. It does not sound very long but it’s not easy walking on lava stone and progress is slower as normal paths we found.
There were only 2 of us walking so you tend to be a bit more prudish (read respectful of the textile world) as we would be with more so we hope to return with some naturist friends in the future to do proper hikes in lava country!
If you are interested in more naked hiking stories and travel stories in general visit my better half’s blog, Little Lolly’s Small Adventures, by clicking on the logo below. Visit the archives for general travel stories and naturist adventures as well. We’re a bit behind in updating our travels, it’s been a very hectic summer holiday vacationing the active way this year!
We also have now figured out by surfing the web that there is no Spanish law against being naked in public, it’s not illegal, however, there are cities that have made it local law (like Barcelona and Cadiz). That also does not mean it’s accepted everywhere and every police officer knows the law well enough so we still think that to be safe be mindful and not upset the locals. We still live in a prudish world with a lot of rules and prejudices against the natural human form.
Thanks for all the comments, it is great to hear them and read about further exploits in the area.
A very interesting post, thanks.
We’ve walked nude in Lanzarote too, of all the Canary Islands we’ve walked naked on its probably the best for doing it free of clothing. Apart from maybe La Gomera, but we felt less comfortable walking nude there, I don’t really know why, its beautiful and perfect for enjoying naturally naked.
We have stayed at Charco del Polo too, we love that no clothing at all is required to stay and wander around there. We walked naked north and south of there along the coast, its wonderful not needing to carry any clothing. We’ve also hiked in the south of the island, in the volcanic areas you’ve mentioned and from Playa Quemada to Papagoyo in the south-east. We did this with another couple and did as you will appreciate, parked one car at the destination before driving to the start point. As both were nude beaches we did it naked throughout. We’ve also hiked north from Famara on the west coast.
We’ve wondered if the area you mention north of El Golfo would be good to walk naked, we’d be interested to hear if you do it.
We walk naked in England quite regularly with friends and have also done it with organised groups. I think the walk with the most nudists had about 35 or 36 people, its fantastic to walk with that number of naked people. The law on public nudity here has been clarified and it is OK to walk naked. We respect others when passing their homes close up and when crossing roads etc, but we remain nude otherwise and I struggle to recall an adverse comment. A few textile walkers have not made much eye contact, some don’t acknowledge us, many others are friendly and we’ve had “wish we had the courage to walk that way” comments, but they have declined to join us when invited!
As you mention Spain has similar laws with regard to public nudity. We’ve hiked nude in the Pyrenees, various parts of Catalonia and Sierra Nevada and never had any issues when meeting other walkers.
Marvelous report on a great winter naked hiking tour. Very nice images too. Kudos!
I understand the intention to not upset people especially when you’re near residential areas, and none of us need any agravation with territorial puritans. However, do bear in mind that the more people see you, when you’re out naked hiking, then the more people get to realize that it’s a harmless and pleasant activity.
I suspect that naturists encountering textiles on a wilderness trail would be much more acceptable and mind broadening if we did it in groups. There is far less chance of being accused of demonic possession or perversion. Hard core puritans, who may not listen to anyone in any event, won’t be persuaded. But for “normal” textile people, encountering a naked group on the trail might be a life altering event.
Indeed, Geeezeer, (I had to count those e’s), this is the experience we find on the NEWT‘s also, and regularly. Most people appear quite accepting and are largely friendly when they unexpectedly meet a group of naked hikers. Definitely more so when it’s a group than the dreaded lone male (naked or not).
For the vociferous puritan minority, there is simply no hope and it’s best to just ignore them if possible.
Looked like quite an adventure.
What a great view!