Levada do Caniço

The descent from Camacha is so steep and goes on so long that you start to wonder whether the levada is really down there. Then the water runs across your path and the views open up, along a line so narrow that you have to watch your feet and can easily miss them.

This levada is a rough one. Thorny bushes reach across the path and small landslides have left their debris on it, and the line takes you over a narrow levada bridge and under a waterfall. It suits walkers with several levadas already behind them and a taste for something untidy. The satisfaction comes afterwards, at the end of the line or the top of the climb.

In Camacha's main square, walk past the church at the top and take the small road turning right at the corner, diagonally opposite where the bus drops you. It runs downhill past houses to a bar-café on the left.

50 metres past the bar, a track veers off left and becomes a run of small steps, very slippery when wet. It passes small houses, some in disrepair, then drops steeply all the way to the levada. In August 2024 a closure sign stood on this stretch.

At the levada, which runs across your path, turn right and follow the flow of the water. The path is very narrow and runs along almost sheer hillside, through thorny bushes, over a narrow levada bridge and under a waterfall.

A small tunnel ends the walk, and from there it is a trek through suburbs to find a bus. Walked the other way from Caniço, the line finishes with the steep climb to Camacha, with Mini Mercado Bar Eira Salgada after it.

• Closure: in August 2024 a sign at the Camacha end closed the trail, with none at Caniço, so a clear start from Caniço proves nothing.
• Gear: wear proper hiking gear and long trousers, because spiky vegetation covers many parts of the path.
• Dogs: stray and unleashed dogs on the way can be aggressive.
• Way back: the walk ends at a small tunnel, with a trek through suburbs to find a bus or the very steep climb to retrace.
• Supplies: Camacha has a free water point about 47 m away and free toilets about 108 m away. Carry plenty of water and a cap.

The bus from Funchal drops you on Camacha's main square, and everything from there is on foot: past the church and downhill through the houses. The start takes some finding in Camacha, so follow the route directions closely.

The walk does not come back to where it began. It ends at a small tunnel, and from there you walk through the suburbs until you find a bus route. A car left in Camacha commits you either to the very steep climb back or to working out a bus connection at the far end.

Best: a dry, cool day. Late December can bring perfect walking weather here.

Avoid: wet ground at any time of year, and the heat of a summer afternoon.

The small steps from Camacha turn very slippery in the wet and the narrow path leaves no room for error, while the first hour is hard work even in cool weather.

Levada do Caniço is not a classified trail, and IFCN, the island's forestry and nature authority, neither recommends it nor takes responsibility for it.

In August 2024 a sign on the Camacha side declared the trail closed, with workmen repairing the levada beyond it. The Caniço end carried no such sign, so setting out from there tells you nothing about whether the way through is open.