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PR6.4 · West — Rabaçal / Paul da Serra

Levada Velha do Rabaçal

Also known as PR6.4 · Levada do Risco · Old Rabaçal Levada

5 km Length linear
2 h Duration typical
Easy Grade easy
80 m Ascent climb
low Exposure vertigo
PR6.4 Trail official PR

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.

Highlights

  • Madeira's first publicly financed levada
  • A quiet approach into the Rabaçal basin
  • Links the ER 105 highlands with the Rabaçal shelter
  • Views across the plateau edge and Laurisilva

Water on the route

  • Levada Velha do Rabaçal, also called Levada do Risco
Tunnels: The historic Estrebarias tunnel is part of the waterwork's story but is not a tunnel walkers should enter on the classified route.. Bring a head-torch — some levada tunnels are long, low and pitch black.

Walks like this

PR6.8 West — Paul da Serra / Rabaçal

Levada do Paul II — Um Caminho para Todos

PR6.8 is one of the few classified Madeiran trails explicitly adapted for people with motor disabilities. It follows Levada do Paul II for 1.2 km from the Rabaçal loading chamber beside the ER 105 to Estrada do Rochão, then returns the same way. The route offers a genuine working-water landscape in a short, near-level format without tunnels.

  • Official adapted access
  • Family-friendly
2.4 kmLength1 hTimeeasyGrade
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PR28 West — Fanal / Rabaçal

Levada da Rocha Vermelha

PR28 begins at Fanal, shares the opening of PR13 and then descends to the Levada da Rocha Vermelha. The channel gathers water from the Vimieiro, Janela, Calheta and Seixal catchments before reaching the small loading chamber on the Atouguia ridge. A steep staircase, tunnels, waterfalls and substantial elevation loss make this a serious linear route despite the gentle gradient of the levada sections.

  • Has tunnels
  • Waterfall on the route
10.8 kmLength4 hTimehardGrade
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PR13 Northwest — Fanal / Paúl da Serra (Porto Moniz)

Vereda do Fanal

More a forest footpath than a levada, the Vereda do Fanal traverses the high Paúl da Serra plateau through a wide expanse of UNESCO laurel forest in superb condition, ending at the Fanal — a shallow volcanic crater designated a Rest-and-Quiet Reserve and famous worldwide for its gnarled, fog-haunted Til trees. The route passes the Sítio do Fio, where a historic cableway once lowered timber and brushwood off the plateau. Visit Madeira gives 10.8 km, 4 h, Moderate, altitude 1,420/1,130 m, with the official classified line running from Assobiadores onward toward Encumeada. Exposure is low, but the plateau is frequently in cloud — which is precisely what gives the Fanal its otherworldly atmosphere.

  • Has tunnels
10.8 kmLength4 hTimemoderateGrade
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