Situated in the heart of the dense jungle that surrounds Rabacal, the Levada das 25 Fontes is considered Madeira’s Best Levada walk.
We left Ponto do Sol and arrived at the parking lot just before 9 am and it was 90% percent full.
After we geared up, we started down the two kilometre paved road, which winds down the mountainside to the Forest House, which is where you’ll find the official beginning point of the PR6 hike. There is a transfer bus but it does not start until 10 am so we hiked down on a sunny morning.
The paved road down took us about 20 minutes and it’s a little hard on the knees, walking on pavement, and I was glad that we arrived.
This is an easy 9 kilometre in and out, 3 hour hike.
Having said that, there are still a LOT of stone steps to walk down before you arrive at the actual trail but once you do, you are transported into a dense forest with twisting tree branches arching over the path, as well as an iconic Levada aqueduct flowing alongside.
Around 2 kilometres into the hike, you’ll reach a crossroad that gives you the option to continue in the direction of 25 Fontes or take a short detour to the Risco Waterfall.
About 4.5 kilometres into the hike, you’ll reach the 25 Fontes Waterfall, an amphitheatre-like waterfall with 25 waterfalls flowing along the wall of the waterfall, before dropping into a large central basin. Due to the tropical circumstances, the waterfall is encircled with incredible flora, including lush vines, plants, and moss covering the walls.
Since this Levada walk is Madeira’s most popular, the waterfall area was quite crowded, and even though I could appreciate the beauty, it was difficult to really step back and appreciate it as the foot traffic made our brief stop fairly chaotic. People were stopped on any possible flat surface and it took a considerable amount of patience to try and position myself to take a few decent photos.
Anyone who reads my posts knows how I firmly believe that hiking is a self regulated recreational activity and each hiker should follow a code of self-conduct and respect the fact that all hikers want the same basic thing from their outing – a few moments of privacy, even if that means just enough time to snap a photo of your wife alone in front of those spectacular waterfalls.
Yim found a spot where we could have a snack and rested while I scooted about from rock to rock to take a few photos I was somewhat happy with and then we both felt claustrophobic and decided to head back home.
My favourite part of the waterfalls was the stepped aqueduct as we rounded back onto the trailhead. I found this to be a beautiful scene.
From here, we headed back to the beginning of the hike. Take note that there is a turn off on the way back, as part of this Levada hike is quite narrow so the route diverts returning hikers along a different trail. Once you reach the start of the trailhead, the Rabacal Nature Spot Café has a nice sitting area to stop and have a snack.
After a short break, we headed out to the road and waited for the transfer bus this time – $5 Euros per person but I’m willing to bet that after a 3 hour hike, the walk back, all uphill, would have taken us an hour so we were both happy to hop into the van.
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