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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.

● Closed« ENCERRADO » — IFCN

Paul da Serra's geological trail, closed in 2026. It starts at Bica da Cana (1,588 m at the highest point) and reaches the ER 105 in 4.6 km, about 1:30, between 1,457 and 1,588 m. The whole route shows the evidence of a plateau glacier that covered Paul da Serra, peaking at the Last Glacial Maximum some 25,000 years ago: a shallow glacial valley with a rounded U-shaped profile, a circular hollow scoured under the ice, then the climb onto the eroded top of an old basaltic cinder cone, Fonte do Juncal, born of a Middle Pleistocene eruption (between 1.8 million and 774,000 years ago). From the cone, a panorama over the plateau; on the way down, the Rabaças viewpoint overlooks the head of the Ribeira da Ponta do Sol valley and its moraine deposits, large basalt blocks and columns. The route ends at the Fajã Redondo glacial cirque at Sítio das Pedras, a site of exceptional geological value where the ruins of the pens once used for traditional shearing remain. A plateau without shade.

Highlights

  • Traces of a plateau glacier
  • Bica da Cana
  • Fonte do Juncal
  • Moraines
  • Closed in 2026
Difficulty
Moderate
Length
4.6 km
Elevation gain
131 m
Duration
1:30
Price
€4.50 (over 12) · SIMplifica booking · free for residents and under-13s
Municipality
Ponta do Sol
🎟️ Book on SIMplifica🗺️ See the route on the map📍 Start🏁 End

Track for guidance only.

Places within 2 km of the route

  • 🌿 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 Bica da Cana

    No need to climb the highest peaks: at 1,580 m on the rim of Paul da Serra, in the parish of Canhas (Ponta do Sol), Bica da Cana is one of the archipelago's most popular and most photographed lookouts, reached directly by road. A unique view over the São Vicente valley carpeted with Laurissilva; many come up for sunrise, often enriched by a layer of cloud building up below the summits. Next to it, several trails (including PR 17 to Folhadal and PR 27, closed in 2026) and the recently renovated Bica da Cana leisure area, with its facilities and picnic area.

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