Nowadays to go to Pico Ruivo is much easier that it was before. You can drive until the Achada do Teixeira and, from there, the path is in very good conditions. Throughout the walk there are several shelters an even a break in the rock from where fresh water springs, making of this path a much more pleasant one.

It is from the Pico Ruivo Shelter that we start the walk into Encumeada. Get ready for ascents and descents along 16 kilometres, at a height between the 1800 and the 1000 meters, and leave towards Encumeada. This is a path that offers the walkers the possibility to cross two types of ecosystems, both of them integrating the European Network of Places of Communitarian Interest - Rede Natura 2000: the Maciço Montanhoso Central and the Laurissilva Forest.

Starting the descent you can see, underneath, the locations of Curral de Cima: Fajã dos Cardos, Colmeal near the talweg of the river and Fajã Escura. Behind, it is possible to view the center of Curral das Freiras village. From São Jorge peak, it is easy to view the estuary of the Ribeira dos Socorridos and São Martinho's church. Following are a few kilometres to cross and through this course you will be finding several land shapes.

The path is built between the volcanic rocks of the island and the involving scenarios full of Laurissilva species such as the Madeira Laurel (Ocotea Foetens), the Bay Tree (Laurus Azorica), the Lily of the Valley Tree (Clethra Arborea), the Dogwood (Rhamnus Glandulosa), the Pride of Madeira (Echium Candicans), the Madeira Orchid (Dactylorhiza Foliosa) and the Mandon's Chrysanthemum (Argyranthemum Pinnatifidum). The pass goes through Pico da Lapa da Cadela, Torrinhas where another path links Curral das Freiras to Boaventura and, approximately a kilometre before , there is a descent to the Curral (Pico Furão) which has no sign. The most difficult part for the hiker is the abrupt ascent from Boca das Torrinhas to the top of Pico Jorge. Afterwards, it is most of the time descending. When crossing the Encumeada and Meio peaks, watch that the path hides among the Besom Heath and the Madeira Bilberry.

Along the track, you will also find some caverns excavated in the rocks which were used before as a shelter for the men who walked there to cut the Besom Heath (Erica Scoparia Madeirensis an Erica Arborea) in order to make pickets, firewood or for the production of charcoal.

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