MadeiraLevadas Find a walk
WalksItinerariesHistoryThe ForestHow They WorkField Guide Glossary

PR1.2 · North — Santana

Vereda do Pico Ruivo

Also known as Achada do Teixeira to Pico Ruivo · PR1.2

5.6 km Length out-and-back
1.5 h Duration typical
Easy Grade easy
260 m Ascent climb
low Exposure vertigo
PR1.2 Trail official PR

The shortest path to the roof of Madeira. This VEREDA climbs from Achada do Teixeira to Pico Ruivo (1,862 m) on a well-maintained paved-and-cobbled path with some steep stair sections, passing stone emergency shelters built against the massif's abrupt weather changes. Visit Madeira gives 2.8 km one-way (5.6 km round trip) and grades it moderate; most operators rate it easy given the modest ~260 m of climbing and 1.5–2 hour round trip. The 'Homem em Pé' rock formation stands near the trailhead, and the Casa de Abrigo do Pico Ruivo shelter just below the summit connects to PR1 and other massif trails.

Highlights

  • Pico Ruivo summit (1,862 m), the archipelago's highest point
  • 'Homem em Pé' (Standing Man) rock formation near the start
  • Stone mountain shelters (casas de abrigo)
  • Casa de Abrigo do Pico Ruivo trail junction
  • Panoramas across the central massif, often above the clouds
Tunnels: None. Bring a head-torch — some levada tunnels are long, low and pitch black.

Walks like this

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
PR11 North — Ribeiro Frio (Santana municipality)

Vereda dos Balcões

The north's easiest classic: a near-level 1.5 km each way along the Levada da Serra do Faial from Ribeiro Frio to the Balcões — the 'balconies' — a railed promontory looking deep into the Metade valley and, on a clear day, across to the central peaks of Pico do Areeiro, Pico das Torres and Pico Ruivo, with the Fajã da Nogueira hydro plant far below. Through laurel forest alive with chaffinches and endemic flora, it is ideal for families and a fine half-hour acclimatiser. Visit Madeira gives 1.5 km / 3 km round trip, 1:30 h, Easy, altitude 880/870 m. The municipality on the official register is Santana, placing it firmly in the north, though it pairs naturally with the PR10 Levada do Furado that starts nearby.

  • Family-friendly
3 kmLength1.5 hTimeeasyGrade
View walk