Verada dos Balcoes – PR 11

Vereda dos Balcões, located in the Ribero Frio Forest Park, is the perfect trail if you are looking for an easy 3 klm hike.

To get there, we took the longest route from Ponta do Sol through Sao Vincente, Boaventura, Sao Jorge and Santana, before heading up ER 103, because I preferred the drive. After almost three weeks on the island, I found that I didn’t care to drive on the main highway – ER 101 – that ran through Funchal unless I had to. I found it too busy, too developed and too stressful and preferred spending the extra time seeing a little bit more of the island while we drove.

From Boaventura, the drive along the coast may be daunting in parts, but it is beautiful. ER 101 is carved out along the side of the mountains and wound us up along one side and out the other side into Sao Jorge Valley.

If you plan to do this trip, exiting the tunnels along the northern coastline towards Sao Jorge alone make the trip to the trail worth it – the ocean views are spectacular. From there, we would wind our way through several more villages before passing through Santana, made an quick stop at Miradouro Guindaste, and headed up into the mountains towards Ribero Frio for another 20 minutes.

Ribero Frio Forest Park is a popular day trip as there are multiple attractions including several hikes which converge here, as well as lush gardens, trout ponds and a number of small waterfalls and it can be tough to find parking. When we visited, the parking was overflowing down and along the narrow street, causing significant congestion. At one point, we watched a Tour bus muscle a young couple in an Audi backwards up the street for a good 500 feet with hikers and tourists walking in and out of the cars, adding to the confusion. We were lucky enough to pull into a parking spot someone has just vacated.

Once parked, there are multiple restaurants, cafes, toilets, information offices, and facilities to provide you information and some comfort.

The trail begins at Levada da Serra do Faial along a wide path through a typical Madeiran forest and passes over a beautiful river flowing beneath a well worn stone bridge.

Further along, the trail winds through two narrow pathways with huge moss covered rock walls on either side, real solid living walls of greenery. On a sunny day, the light danced around inside the chasms, bouncing off the walls, allowing us to set up a couple of nice photos.