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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.

● Open · ABERTO

Rabaçal's almost flat levada: 3.5 km one way from the ER 105 car park to the source of the Levada do Alecrim at the Ribeira do Lajeado, between 1,256 and 1,339 m, about 2:30 round trip, graded easy. The channel, also called Levada do Paul I, was built to feed the Calheta hydroelectric plant through the Rabaçal loading chamber. Wide views over the Rabaçal valley and the Ribeira da Janela, over the greens of the Laurissilva (UNESCO World Heritage), and a few heather tunnels that give the path its atmosphere. At the end, the "Dona Beja" lake, whose water feeds the Lagoa do Vento waterfall: a place to cool off. Return the same way, or descend to the Casa de Abrigo do Rabaçal by the Vereda da Lagoa do Vento (PR 6.3). Little shade on the plateau: hat and water.

Highlights

  • Lagoa Dona Beja
  • Heather tunnels
  • View over Rabaçal
  • Almost flat
Difficulty
Easy
Length
3.5 km
Elevation gain
83 m
Duration
2:30 (round trip)
Price
€4.50 (over 12) · SIMplifica booking · free for residents and under-13s
Municipality
Calheta
🎟️ Book on SIMplifica🗺️ See the route on the map📍 Start🏁 End

Track for guidance only.

Places within 2 km of the route

  • 🌿 Nature

    Rabaçal

    On Paul da Serra, the Pico da Urze balcony opens onto the island's largest valley covered in Laurissilva — a UNESCO World Heritage site, a Natura 2000 site, classified as an area of rest and silence by the Parque Natural da Madeira. From the ER 105 car park set off Madeira's most famous trails: the Levada das 25 Fontes (PR 6), the Levada do Risco (PR 6.1), Alecrim (PR 6.2), Lagoa do Vento (PR 6.3) and, below, Casa do Rabaçal, the meeting point with its reception centre on the history of the levadas; the Túnel do Cavalo (1863–1877) and the Túnel das Estrebarias (1855) tell of the first crossing of the northern waters to the south. All trails require SIMplifica booking (€4.50).

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  • 🌿 Nature

    Cascata do Risco

    At the end of Levada do Risco, at Rabaçal: a fall that drops vertically and draws a white line on the dark rock. It is reached by PR 6.1, an easy 1.5 km path one way from the ER 105, about two hours there and back, at some 1,000 m of altitude. The path shares its start with Levada das 25 Fontes (PR 6). The Risco viewpoint closes the route.

    €4.50 per visitor over 12, SIMplifica booking (PR 6.1)
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  • 🌿 Nature

    Lagoa das 25 Fontes

    A pool at the foot of a wall from which the waters coming down off Paul da Serra emerge: the official page counts twenty-five springs, hence the name. The site is classified geosite C01 – 25 Fontes for its scientific value, and it is this underground circulation that made the building of the levadas possible. It is reached by PR 6, 4.3 km one way from the ER 105 at Rabaçal, about three hours, moderate, between 964 and 1,288 m.

    €4.50 per visitor over 12, SIMplifica booking (PR 6)
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  • 🔭 Viewpoint

    Rabaçal (Calheta)

    A viewpoint at Ponto, municipality of Calheta. It stands 1,214 m above sea level; the DROTe 2023 orthophoto shows a platform or a parking area there.

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