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West — Ponta do Sol

Levada Nova & Levada do Moinho

Also known as Levada do Moinho – Levada Nova · Lombada loop

8.1 km Length circular
4 h Duration typical
Moderate Grade moderate
674 m Ascent climb
high Exposure vertigo

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.

Highlights

  • Nova waterfall cascading across the trail
  • Smaller cascades and levada crossings
  • Banana and terrace cultivation of the Lombada valley
  • 200 m water tunnel
  • Valley panoramas toward the Paul da Serra plateau

Water on the route

  • Nova waterfall (falls directly across the path)
  • Several smaller cascades
Tunnels: One ~200 m tunnel at roughly km 4; torch required. Bring a head-torch — some levada tunnels are long, low and pitch black.

Walks like this

Southwest — Calheta / Prazeres

Levada da Calheta – Prazeres

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.

  • Has tunnels
  • Family-friendly
14.4 kmLength4.5 hTimeeasyGrade
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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
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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
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