Levada do Caldeirão Verde

If Madeira had only one walk, it might be this one. The Levada do Caldeirão Verde follows an 18th-century water channel along the face of the island’s greenest mountains, in and out of four rock tunnels, under waterfalls, through the dripping laurel forest, until the channel reaches a perfect amphitheatre of cliffs where a stream falls a hundred metres into a dark green pool.

Walking the water road

The walk starts at the Queimadas forest house above Santana — itself one of the island’s traditional thatched A-frame houses — and runs almost level for 8.7 kilometres to the Caldeirão Verde, through the Laurissilva forest classified by UNESCO as World Natural Heritage. A torch is essential for the tunnels, where the ceiling drips and the water flows underfoot; the drops beside the unfenced channel are real and the basalt is slippery when wet. At the far end, the great green cauldron of the waterfalls rewards the walker with one of the quietest, most beautiful places in Macaronesia. Other classic heights of the island, the summit of Pico do Arieiro and the cliffs of Ponta de São Lourenço, complete a walking itinerary of Madeira at its most elemental.

What to see

• The four tunnels of the levada
• The Caldeirão Verde waterfall and pool
• The Laurissilva forest of the interior
• The Queimadas forest house
• The contrast of greens in every direction

Practical information

The PR9 trail runs from Queimadas, near Santana, on Madeira’s north coast; the round trip is 17.4 kilometres and takes most of a day. Access requires a booking through the SIMplifica platform (a few euros; free for children), and parking at Queimadas is charged. Take a head-torch, waterproofs and proper boots; do not attempt the tunnels without light.

Image credit: Levada do Caldeirão Verde by VillageHero — CC BY-SA 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons.