Levada - Caldeirão Verde

This course, starting at the Parque Florestal das Queimadas (Santana) and finishing at Caldeirão Verde, has an extension of 6 Km and it is at 990 meters high. The hut of Queimadas keeps the original features of the typical houses of Santana. Starting from here, and if you do not stop to look at the marvellous views over Santana and São Jorge, it will take around an hour and a half to complete this course.

This track is extremely rich in its landscape surrounded by water falls, fauna and flora (Cryptomeria Japonica, Fagus Sylvatica Juniperus Cedrus, Madeira Laurel (Ocotea Foetens), Picconia (Picconia Excelsa), centenary Besom Heath (Erica Scoparia), Lily of the Valley Tree (Clethra Arborea), Madeira Bilberry (Vaccinium Padifolium)).

At a certain point, you will find the first tunnel which is short and contrasts with the second tunnel with 200 meters. A little afterwards, you will see the third tunnel, not so long as the previous one. Be careful, as this is a low tunnel and the ground is normally swampy. The fourth tunnel, smaller in its length, is 1 km far from Caldeirão Verde. Note that Caldeirão Verde is located at the left of the Levada, and to reach there you just have to climb a few meters by the riverside from where the waters flow from the natural lake. After enjoying the beauty of Caldeirão Verde, and if you do not suffer from vertigo, you can go on by the levada (with no fence) until Caldeirão do Inferno.

Bibliography

Quintal, Raimundo (2004). Levadas e Veredas da Madeira. Funchal: Francisco Ribeiro & Filhos, Lda.