Serra de Água

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.

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.

Right next to the Pousada dos Vinháticos, near Encumeada, Pico da Murta is the 360° balcony of the Serra d'Água valley: valleys covered in dense vegetation, rugged peaks and green slopes running down to Ribeira Brava. You climb by a staircase that winds up the slope, gradually revealing the scenery; the ascent was recently upgraded. The observation platform invites a contemplative pause.

At Serra d'Água, in the centre south-west of the island, this viewpoint takes its name from the Pousada dos Vinháticos opened on the site in 1933, whose grounds offer a car park, a picnic area and a sunbathing area. The view takes in the peaks that enclose the parish — Cruz, Cedro and Pico Grande — and the streams that, joined together, form the wild river that gave Ribeira Brava its name. Dense forest and steep slopes all around: the most convenient lookout in the valley, on the road to Encumeada.