Levada do Barreiro

Madrei

Madre 1 N 32°43.450 W 16°55.400 at ca. 1570 m a.s.l. Madre 2 N 32°43.400 W 16°55.350 at ca. 1570 m a.s.l.

Course

The levada is easy to reach from the panoramic road. Upstream towards Madre 1 the ground is quite overgrown, and it is the same around Madre 2.

In the direction of flow there is first a well-kept path as far as a sign saying the levada is closed for maintenance. After that it really is a matter of searching for the levada in boggy ground. Originally the levada used to drop steeply to the eastern side valley of the Ribeira de Santa Lucia (Vale do Corrego da Achada Grande). A few remains can be seen here, but the levada is destroyed. The whole slope down to the stream bed is littered with tree trunks and very hard to walk. Our detour to the south was extremely hard going too. On the valley floor a new maintenance track comes in from the eastern side of the valley, at the place where remains of the levada show again as a concrete beam.

From here it is possible to follow the original course of the levada, though getting through is extremely hard and takes a long time. The water is carried in pipes along the partly destroyed levada bed. At some point the levada is open again, and a fair amount of water is flowing, from the pipe and also from the stream. Shortly after that the path to the upper Escadinhas do Menino Jesus branches off. From here the levada is relatively easy to walk, in places a little slipped and overgrown. It now runs east of the Ribeira de Santa Luzia through the western part of the Parque Ecologico do Funchal. Another path branches off to the lower Escadinhas.

Two more gravel tracks out of the Parque Ecologico are crossed. From here it gets quite narrow and demanding, until at Corujeira you are back on open settlement. The levada runs partly in the open and partly piped as far as Tanque, where it ends in a reservoir.

End

Current end: Corujeira at ca. 960 m a.s.l.; from here partly piped, along the earlier course to the earlier end, at ca. 490 m a.s.l. in Tanque, at the same place where the Levada do Pisão also ends.

Function and use

Vertical levada for the water supply of Monte

Access

• From the new panoramic road

• Gravel tracks and walking paths from the Parque Ecologico do Funchal

• Path from the Aguas dos Tornos (cf. Walk 2013)

• By the upper Escadinhas do Menino Jesus from the Madre of the Levada da Serra da Alegria inferior (cf. Walk 2015)

• Corujeira

Condition

According to the tourism website the Levada do Barreiro (PR 4) is closed, and PR 4 is no longer listed on the site. From below, as far as the turn-off to the upper Escadinhas do Menino Jesus, the path is nevertheless straightforward with due care and the right equipment; cf. also our reports (Walk 2013 and Walk 2015). From there the levada is in places heavily destroyed and will presumably not be repaired. The ground is quite overgrown and, further up, strewn with fallen trunks lying across it. Getting through is possible, but difficult (Walk 2016).

Like all vertical levadas, the Levada do Barreiro is demanding on fitness.

Remarks

A fine view into the valley of the Ribeira de Santa Luzia, but unfortunately the area often clouds over towards midday. Take care!