Levada da Silveira

A goat, some hens and roosters, a few lizards, and not one other hiker in ten kilometres — that is an ordinary day on this levada. It is one of the oldest water channels on Madeira and one of the least walked. The walking is easy. The path follows the channel past waterfalls that spill straight over the walkway, and at some of them you get wet. Partway along there is a farm growing kiwis and other fruit. Beyond it the valley opens out into forest tracks and mountain views. Tunnels cut through the rock; the longer one is broader than the tunnels on most levadas, and completely dark inside.

• Bring a torch. The tunnels have no lighting. The longer one is broad enough for a phone torch, but a headlamp keeps your hands free.
• After rain the path is mud. Feet are soaked within the first fifteen minutes, and the narrow sections turn slippery.
• No facilities. There are no toilets, no drinking water and no information point in the area around the levada.
• Waterfalls cross the walkway. At some of them you get wet, and the ledge beside the channel is narrow where the water comes down.
• The path is not maintained to a high standard. Expect broken surfaces and stretches with nothing along the edge.

Most people come by car. There is no car park at the levada itself: drivers leave cars in the wide corners of the road, and the nearest proper car park is further back along the asphalt. A bus stop serves the same road, close enough to walk in from. Either way the last stretch is on foot. The start of the levada is the awkward part, and it is easy to walk past. Find the trailhead on a map app before you set off rather than looking for it on the ground.

Best: dry weather, when the path is firm and the crossings are easy to step over.

Avoid: heavy rain and the mud it leaves behind.

Crowds play no part in the timing here — the levada is often empty of other walkers, and there is no queue to beat at the start. Rain is what changes the walk. Wet ground turns the surface to mud, the waterfalls that cross the path run harder, and you finish soaked.