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South — Câmara de Lobos / Ribeira Brava

Levada do Norte

Also known as Rota da Levada do Norte · Levada da Ribeira Brava–Câmara de Lobos

8.9 km Length linear
3 h Duration typical
Easy Grade easy
25 m Ascent climb
medium Exposure vertigo

One of Madeira's largest and most historically important levadas, the Levada do Norte was built 1947–1952 (inaugurated 1 June 1952) to carry water from the wet north across the watershed to the dry south. It is a classic dual-purpose scheme: water first drops through the Serra de Água hydroelectric station, then irrigates the south (about 502 litres/second outside the rainy season). Its main canal runs about 51 km. Walkers tackle it in sections: a popular easy stretch links Quinta Grande to Ribeira Brava (~8.9 km, ~3 h) on an almost flat path, while the section from Estreito de Câmara de Lobos threads the terraced vineyards that produce the island's finest Madeira wine, with views toward Cabo Girão, Europe's highest sea cliff at 580 m. Expect tunnel passages, endemic flora and occasional exposed, vertigo-inducing edges.

Highlights

  • Terraced vineyards of Estreito de Câmara de Lobos (Madeira wine country)
  • Views toward Cabo Girão sea cliff (580 m)
  • South-coast and parish panoramas (Câmara de Lobos, Campanário)
  • Tunnel passages and endemic flora
  • Near-level, year-round walkable channel

Water on the route

  • The levada channel itself
  • Viewpoints over the south coast
Tunnels: Tunnel passages along the route; torch advised. Bring a head-torch — some levada tunnels are long, low and pitch black.

Walks like this

South — Funchal / Monte to Camacha / Santa Cruz

Levada dos Tornos

At around 106 km including its intakes and branches, the Levada dos Tornos is the longest levada in the Madeira archipelago — about 16 km of it in tunnels, its longest a 5,100 m bore linking Fajã da Nogueira to the Ribeira de Santa Luzia. Inaugurated in 1966 as part of the post-1947 modernization programme, it is a dual-purpose scheme: it collects the discharge water from the Fajã da Nogueira hydroelectric plant and conveys it to the south, where at Fundoa the flow splits between public water supply (historically Funchal) and irrigation across Santa Cruz and beyond. The favourite outing runs from Monte to Camacha, climbing gently before levelling out and passing the long-running Jasmin Tea House — a welcome stop for tea and cake. A ~200 m tunnel between Camacha and the tea house needs a torch.

  • Has tunnels
  • Waterfall on the route
14.4 kmLength5 hTimemoderateGrade
View walk
PR9 North — Santana

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
17.4 kmLength6.5 hTimemoderateGrade
View walk
PR9 North — Santana

Levada do Caldeirão do Inferno

Not a separate trail but the full extent of the official PR9: from Caldeirão Verde the channel pushes a further ~2.4 km through a string of narrow, often flooded tunnels into the Caldeirão do Inferno, a sheer-sided canyon closed by a final towering waterfall. This is the demanding end of the route — guidebooks count around eleven tunnels in total and rate the complete out-and-back as hard, a full day of 6–7 hours or more. The popular shorthand 'PR9.1' for this extension is a misnomer: the official register names the whole Queimadas–Caldeirão Verde–Caldeirão do Inferno line as PR9, while the real PR9.1 is a short accessible path (Queimadas–Pico das Pedras) elsewhere.

  • Has tunnels
  • Waterfall on the route
17.4 kmLength6.5 hTimehardGrade
View walk