The levadas
Two thousand miles of sixteenth-century irrigation channels, now flat paths cut into the mountainside.
Duration
4 hrs – 7 hrs
Difficulty
●●●○○
Best time
Early morning
Open
Every day
Entry price
To confirm
The levadas are irrigation channels cut from the sixteenth century to bring water from Madeira's wet north to its dry, cultivated south. There are around three thousand kilometres of them, often carved into cliff faces, sometimes through tunnels.
A maintenance path runs alongside them everywhere, and that is what makes them exceptional trails: they follow the contour, so they are flat, and they cross landscapes reachable no other way — laurel forest, gorges, passages behind waterfalls. The best known are the levada do Caldeirão Verde and the 25 Fontes.
Getting there
Trailheads all over the island; the best known start at Queimadas and Rabaçal. Car or organised shuttle — no scheduled services.
What the price covers
most are free; a few, including the Levada do Caldeirão Verde, charge an access fee
What to bring
- Walking shoes
- Headlamp
Rules on site
The path is level but often runs along an unfenced drop, and it is slippery: shoes with grip, and a head torch for the tunnels. Some levadas have required an online booking since 2021, and landslides close them regularly.
