Stargazing at Llanos del Jable

A Starlight Reserve with a viewpoint that crowns a sleeping volcano

In the high part of El Paso, 1.200 metres above sea level, the Llano del Jable viewpoint offers amazing views over the Aridane valley during the daytime, with the old volcano in the foreground. At night this part of La Palma, recognised as a Starlight Reserve due to the quality of the skies, is a superb natural balcony from where you can enjoy incredible panoramas of the skies. The viewpoint has an information panel and plenty of parking spaces, although there are no services nearby. Dress in warm clothes.

Three large constellations to behold

Geared westwards, the Llano del Jable astronomic viewpoint is the ideal place to view the constellations in January just after night fall. You can clearly identify Pegasus in front of Cassiopeia with Andromeda in between, where the closest and biggest galaxy in the skies can be found, the Great Andromeda Nebula. If it’s a moonless night and you use binoculars, the long, cloud-like formation is clearly visible. Even without binoculars you can make it out – it is one of the furthest celestial objects that are visible to the naked eye, at more than 2.2 million light years away.

Altitude

669 m

Protected sky

Starlight Reserve

Information panels

Parking

Protected natural space

El Paso

Go to web site

Downloadable files selection

Mapa de carreteras de la isla de La Palma

pdf

3.17 MB

Llanos del Jable. Stargazing in La Palma

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'.
Turn off car headlights and do not use torches. That will help minimise the light pollution of the sky.
If you are at an astronomical viewpoint, respect and look after the different items of public furniture (information panels, railings, seats, lighting, binoculars and telescopes, etc.).
Try and be silent or talk quietly. The experience will be more enjoyable.