La Gomera's prime attraction, the magical, often-misty Parque Nacional de Garajonay extends across 40 sq km of dense, primeval laurisilva forest at the heart of the island, where warm breezes collide with Atlantic trade winds. A national park since 1981 and a Unesco World Heritage Site since 1986, this mountainscape carpeted much of the Mediterranean millions of years ago (surviving here because the last Ice Age didn't reach the Canary Islands), and provides outstanding hiking opportunities.
Around 7.5 sq km of the park's laurisilva was devastated by a terrible fire in 2012; though it's estimated that these areas will take around 30 years to recover, there's still plenty of beautiful natural country to explore.
