Hiking news for the walks, not the island.

Levada Trails is a hiking site for Madeira’s PR trails and levadas: news when a route closes or reopens, and short guides for the walks. Pico Ruivo, Pico do Areeiro, Ponta de São Lourenço, Caldeirão Verde, and 25 Fontes belong here. Hotel openings and general island news do not.

Who it is for

Tourists building a day around a trailhead, and locals who want a single place to see whether a ridge or a levada is open, restricted, or newly walked again. English is the default. German, Polish, French, Dutch, Spanish, and Italian cover all 24 classified PR routes (including Fanal, Pico Ruivo, PR 1, 25 Fontes, Caldeirão Verde, and PR 8) and the hiking map. News stays in English. Walks that are not on the IFCN list sit in a separate unknown-trails index. Distances there reflect on-site GPS recordings and regional walking surveys.

What a note is

Four kinds of pages carry the site:

• News, when a route closes, reopens, or changes character in bad weather.
• Trail briefs, with distance, difficulty, elevation, and a status.
• Condition updates, tied back to the route they affect.
• Short guides, such as what to carry into a tunnelled levada.

What we answer on the day of a walk

Most hiking pages mix undated route descriptions with partial closures or unclassified levadas. Every classified route brief here answers five concrete questions:

• Which section is actually open, one-way, or closed? Routes such as PR 1, PR 1.3, PR 7, PR 9, PR 10, PR 13, and PR 19 are split into named endpoints so a partial closure never looks like a full traverse.
• Where do you finish if you park at a specific trailhead? Selecting a starting car park shows whether you turn back to your car at a barrier or finish at a second road where a transfer or second car is needed, plus any other classified PR routes starting from that same car park.
• What does the ticket cost? Non-resident fees (€4.50 per classified route or €10.50 for the full PR 1 traverse covering PR 1.1, PR 1.2, and PR 1.3) and separate-route rules at shared trailheads follow the IFCN fee FAQ.
• How fresh is the status check? Each classified route carries its exact table reading date and a 14-day review window, alongside a separate 48-hour trailhead strip that only displays an active note when two or more matching walker reports arrive.
• Is a walk an official PR route or an unclassified regional trail? The 24 classified PR routes and hiking map stay strictly with the IFCN table; the 128 regional levada and mountain walks sit separately in unknown trails.

Route facts & editorial records

Distances and section open/closed statuses on classified routes are benchmarked against official forestry bulletins and verified with on-site GPS logs. Walking time, elevation gain/loss, and difficulty grades are recorded from on-the-ground field walks. Regional levadas and mountain paths outside the classified network document hydraulic water intakes (Madre), terminuses (Fim), full channel lengths, local aliases, and original field photography compiled directly by Levada Trails.

This site does not replace official notices.

Later, a small living

The first version is content only. A modest set of labelled affiliate links or ads can sit beside the notes later — transfers, insurance, or a guidebook — aimed at roughly the cost of keeping the site online. There are no ads and no affiliate links on the site.

Planning a walk? Start with the trail briefs or the latest notes. If you are lost or hurt on the mountain, call 112.