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📡 Today's status

The IFCN's official status, read every day. Green only when the IFCN writes « aberto » with no reserve.

● Partially closed« (Transitável entre a Encumeada Folhadal – Caramujo - Bica da Cana) » — IFCN

The only trail in the network graded "difficult": 15 km from Lombo do Mouro (ER 105) to Encumeada, about 6:30, between 970 and 1,490 m, through an area preserved both by its altitude and by the Laurissilva. The route follows the Levada da Serra and then the Levada do Norte, sometimes leaves the channel for a stone-paved path — including a stretch of "municipal road" — and peaks at the Pináculo, with a panorama over the Ribeira Brava valley and, as a backdrop, Pico Ruivo and Pico do Areeiro. Along the walkway of the Levada do Norte, tunnels and waterfalls follow one another as far as Folhadal: head torch and waterproof. At Encumeada you can carry on to the Vereda da Encumeada (PR 1.3) towards Pico Ruivo (final section closed in 2026) or the Caminho do Norte (PR 21). In 2026 the official lists it as passable only between Encumeada, Folhadal, Caramujo and Bica da Cana: the Lombo do Mouro section is not open, and the map shows it dashed.

Highlights

  • The only PR graded difficult
  • Pináculo
  • Levada do Norte
  • Folhadal
  • Tunnels and waterfalls
Difficulty
Hard
Length
15 km
Elevation gain
520 m
Duration
6:30
Price
€4.50 (over 12) · SIMplifica booking · free for residents and under-13s
Municipality
Ribeira Brava
🎟️ Book on SIMplifica🗺️ See the route on the map📍 Start🏁 End

Track for guidance only.

Places within 2 km of the route

  • 🌿 Nature

    Parque Florestal do Chão dos Louros

    In the heart of the Laurissilva, a World Heritage site since December 1999, on the ER 104 that drops from Encumeada to São Vicente: laurels often bearing the "madre-de-louro" caused by a fungus, tils, rarer vinháticos, folhados, sanguinhos, faias-das-ilhas, heaths and uveiras whose berries go into jams; the endemic firecrest, chaffinch and trocaz pigeon. Tables and benches, fountains, fireplaces and lawns make it one of the forest leisure spots most sought after by Madeirans; the PR 22 Vereda do Chão dos Louros loop (1.9 km) goes round it, with a lookout over the São Vicente valley and a link to PR 21. Free parking, paid toilets.

    🗺️ See it on the map
  • 🌿 Nature

    Fajã dos Vinháticos

    Geosite in the parish of Serra de Água (Ribeira Brava). of the regional inventory: the best place to see the volcanic and sedimentary layers of the Encumeada Formation, whose reference section it is. About 600 m on foot along the road: mind the traffic.

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  • 🌿 Nature

    Paul da Serra

    Madeira's only plateau, at about 1,500 m, in the municipality of Ponta do Sol: on clear days the south and north coasts can be seen at once, otherwise the greens of nature dominate. High-altitude flora with endemics such as the thyme Thymus micans, important birdlife; it is the island's most important aquifer-recharge area, from which levadas and trails set out — to Rabaçal (PR 6.5, 13.1), Fanal (PR 13), Folhadal (PR 17) — with wind farms, forestry posts, leisure areas and shelters. Bica da Cana (1,620 m) and Pico Ruivo do Paul (1,640 m) are its high points; PR 27 (closed) reads the traces of the plateau glacier that covered Paul da Serra about 25,000 years ago. Fog, wind and cold possible in any season.

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  • 🔭 Viewpoint

    Miradouro da Encumeada

    The pass that separates — and links — the island's two sides: at 1,007 m on the crest of the central range, Boca da Encumeada shows at once the Ribeira Brava valley to the south and the São Vicente valley to the north, both carpeted with forest, and the peaks that often rise out of a sea of clouds. It is a junction of classified trails: PR 1.3 to Pico Ruivo (final section closed in 2026), PR 17 to Folhadal, PR 21 to Ribeira Grande, PR 22 at Chão dos Louros. Serra d'Água, below, completes the visit. By the ER 228; no fee shown.

    🗺️ See it on the map