Collection
Waterfall walks
Channels where falling water is the whole point.
The levadas carry water sideways across the mountains, but the most spectacular of them deliver you to where it falls. These walks end at — or run directly beneath — Madeira's great cascades: the hundred-metre drop into the green cauldron of the Caldeirão Verde, the weeping rock wall of the 25 Fontes, the slender ribbon of the Risco.
Several pass behind or below the water itself, so expect spray, slick rock, and the occasional tunnel mouth half-hidden behind a curtain of it.
Levada do Caldeirão Verde
Madeira's most celebrated levada walk and the archetype of the north. From the thatched A-frame shelter at Queimadas the path runs almost level along an 18th-century channel cut to water the fields of Faial, plunging into the densest interior of the UNESCO Laurisilva. Four rock tunnels punctuate the route — bring a torch and expect water underfoot — before the channel rounds a final escarpment to the Caldeirão Verde, a green-walled amphitheatre where the Ribeiro do Caldeirão Verde drops roughly 100 m into a dark pool. The drops beside the unfenced channel are real and the basalt is slick when wet. Visit Madeira gives the official PR9 as 8.7 km one-way / 17.4 km round trip; in practice GPS tracks to the waterfall and back cluster around 11.5–13.5 km.
- Has tunnels
- Waterfall on the route
Levada das 25 Fontes
The signature walk of Rabaçal and one of the most popular trails in all Madeira. From the forestry house the path drops through Laurisilva to the Lagoa das 25 Fontes, a clear pool fed by roughly 25 springs that weep from the surrounding rock wall — the literal source of the name, confirmed by both the Visit Madeira register and Calheta municipality. The terrain is near-flat levada walking with steps and some narrow, exposed ledges. Visit Madeira lists it as 4.3 km one-way (8.6 km round trip); Calheta municipality cites 9 km and GPS trackers up to 11 km when the access road and Risco spur are included.
- Has tunnels
- Waterfall on the route
Levada do Risco
The shortest and gentlest of the Rabaçal trails, leading from the forestry house along an almost level levada to a viewpoint facing the tall, thread-like Risco waterfall. It shares its opening stretch with PR6, so the two are routinely combined into one outing. Visit Madeira gives 1.5 km one-way (3 km round trip), Easy, about 2 hours; the path runs at roughly 1,000 m through laurel forest. The former lower path beneath the falls is closed after landslides.
- Has tunnels
- Waterfall on the route
- Family-friendly
Levada Fajã do Rodrigues
A compact, rewarding walk into the green amphitheatre of the São Vicente valley. From Ginjas the level path follows the Fajã do Rodrigues channel through a series of tunnels — including one long, narrow bore of around a kilometre that demands a torch — to a finale of waterfalls where the main cascade pours into a small pool fed by the Ribeira do Inferno, the river that gives the levada its water. The vegetation shifts from introduced species to native laurel forest, and the valley walls deliver constant panoramas. Visit Madeira gives it as 3.9 km each way (7.8 km round trip), 3:30 h, Moderate, altitude 630/600 m; WalkMe records 8.1 km / 2:45 h and rates it Easy.
- Has tunnels
- Waterfall on the route
Levada Nova & Levada do Moinho
A compact but spirited loop above Ponta do Sol that links two levadas — the lower Levada do Moinho and the higher Levada Nova — through banana terraces and a tunnel before delivering its showpiece: a waterfall that breaks straight across the path, soaking walkers who pass beneath. Distance is modest at roughly 8 km, but the route is defined by exposure rather than gradient, with narrow cliff-side passages reported as little as 50 cm wide and long unprotected drops; it is emphatically not for those with vertigo. A torch is needed for the ~200 m tunnel near the halfway point. Sources quote 8–10 km and 2.5–4 hours.
- Has tunnels
- Waterfall on the route
Levada do Castelejo
The PR24 is an uncrowded levada walk on the rugged east coast above Porto da Cruz, following the Castelejo channel from the hamlet of Referta out to a small waterfall and footbridge where the stream feeds the levada. The early sections pass terraced farmland and laurel forest, but the trail's character is defined by a long stretch of narrow ledge suspended on the open hillside with high, largely unprotected exposure — comfortable walking underfoot but unsuitable for anyone uneasy with heights. It is a there-and-back route, returning the same way after the waterfall.
- Waterfall on the route