A Path for Everyone – Accessible Trail

A levada runs alongside the path for the whole route, with waterfalls coming down beside it. The walking itself is flat and wide, with no climb and nothing to scramble over — gentle enough for a walker recently out of knee surgery. Forest shades the route end to end. Go early and birdsong is the loudest thing on it. The path ends on the far side of the valley at Queimadas, among thatched houses under the trees, and from there you turn round and walk back the way you came.

• Mud after rain: long stretches turn to deep mud and standing puddles, and getting past means ducking under the wooden handrails.
• Footwear: hiking boots for the grip, not trainers you care about — the tread is uneven enough to turn an ankle.
• No mobile signal: reception is missing along the route, so download maps offline before you set off.
• Toilets and a water point are within about 300 m of the trailhead.

Both ends are reached by car. On the Pico das Pedras side you can pull in at the trailhead itself and step straight onto the path — it starts flat and stays that way. Park instead at Pico das Pedras Forest Park and it is a walk down the road to the trailhead. The other end is Queimadas Forest Park, so the route can be started from either direction; either way you come back to the car along the same path.

Better: early morning, after a run of dry days.

Avoid: the days straight after heavy rain.

Shade covers the route from end to end, so heat is not what drives the timing — mud is, and rain leaves long sections of it. Start early enough and the birds are singing the whole way along.