Hotels near PR9 Levada do Caldeirao Verde

PR9 is the long day and the best walk on the island for the forest rather than the view. It runs 8.7 km each way, 17.4 km return, between 872 m and 1,020 m, rated Moderate, official duration 6 hours 30, following a levada channel through the core of the Laurisilva of Madeira, a UNESCO World Heritage site since 1999 covering 15,000 hectares of which around 90 percent is primary forest. It ends at the Caldeirao Verde lake beneath a waterfall of roughly 100 m.

The trail fee is 4.50 EUR and parking at Queimadas costs 2 EUR an hour on top, which on a six and a half hour walk is a real addition. The non-negotiable item is a head torch: there are four unlit rock tunnels and no phone light will get you through them comfortably. The levada edge is unfenced with drops beside it, and the path is permanently muddy.

This is the trail to keep for a day when the island is socked in, because autumn cloud and constant drip are the laurel forest's natural state rather than a defect. It is also the north coast, which means it carries the highest rain and fog risk of the five. Check the daylight: with sunset before 18:20 from 1 November, a 6 hours 30 walk needs a start no later than 09:00, and preferably 08:30 with the tunnels factored in.

Pro Tip: Do not extend to Caldeirao do Inferno on PR9.1 unless you are on the trail by 08:00 in November, because that continuation adds well over an hour each way and the tunnels in fading light are not fun. Pack a spare pair of socks in the car.