MadeiraLevadas Find a walk
WalksItinerariesHistoryNetworkThe ForestHow They WorkField Guide Glossary

Southwest — Calheta / Prazeres

Levada da Calheta – Prazeres

Also known as Prazeres–Calheta levada · Levada Nova da Calheta

14.4 km Length linear
4.5 h Duration typical
Easy Grade easy
30 m Ascent climb
low Exposure vertigo

A long, easy levada in Madeira's sun-warmed southwest, linking the coastal town of Calheta with the upland village of Prazeres. The channel — part of a network roughly 50 km long supplying the Calheta hydroelectric plant — contours through acacias, eucalyptus, pine and wildflowers, passing a lagoon and ending near a levadeiro's (channel-keeper's) house. With only tens of metres of net descent over its length, it is graded easy and is best walked from Prazeres downhill to Calheta. Sources quote around 14.4 km and roughly 4–4.75 hours.

Highlights

  • Woodland of acacia, eucalyptus and pine
  • Lagoon along the channel
  • Levadeiro (channel-keeper's) house at the route's end
  • Endemic flora, flowers and birdlife
  • Open southwest-coast scenery

Water on the route

  • The levada channel
  • A lagoon
Tunnels: None noted. Bring a head-torch — some levada tunnels are long, low and pitch black.

Featured in

Walks like this

West — Ponta do Sol

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
8.1 kmLength4 hTimemoderateGrade
View walk
PR4 South — Funchal Ecological Park

Levada do Barreiro

PR4 descends through the Funchal Ecological Park from Poço da Neve to Casa do Barreiro. The unusual start beside the 1813 ice store gives way to high-altitude vegetation, the Santa Luzia valley and increasingly broad views over Funchal. The classified trail is easy under normal conditions, but access can be diverted when maintenance or weather affects the lower section.

  • Family-friendly
5.2 kmLength2.17 hTimeeasyGrade
View walk
PR6.4 West — Rabaçal / Paul da Serra

Levada Velha do Rabaçal

PR6.4 follows the Levada Velha do Rabaçal from the ER 105 at Pico Gordo into the wooded Rabaçal basin. Built in stages between 1835 and 1860, this was Madeira's first great publicly financed levada. Its 1855 Estrebarias tunnel was the breakthrough that first carried abundant north-coast water through the island to the drier south. The walk itself is a gentle historical traverse ending at Casa do Rabaçal, where it connects with the better-known PR6 family.

  • Has tunnels
  • Family-friendly
5 kmLength2 hTimeeasyGrade
View walk