Levada do Furado

Preliminary note

The Levada do Furado is a very old levada in its own right, already mentioned in 1830, which takes its water from the Ribeiro Frio. At Lamaceiros it gave its water to the Levada da Portela to irrigate the areas around Porto da Cruz and Maiata. From the start its levada bed was shared by the Levada do Juncal. Between 1840 and 1985 the levada bed of the Levada do Furado was also shared by the Levada dos Accionistas, and between 1905 and 1971 by the historical Levada da Serra do Faial, which however no longer exists in its original form. At the Caixa Divisoria (water divider) in Lamaceiros the water was shared out according to the volumes of the individual levadas.

The whole history, the development and the naming in this region is a little confusing and can only be understood in a wider context. I have therefore tried to bring some structure to it, and I have gathered on a page of their own the findings I could take from the Elucidario Madeirense of 1921 (first edition) and 1940 (second edition): Historical development of the Levada do Furado, Juncal and Serra do Faial

Madrei

Ribeiro Frio N 32°44.125 W 16°53.160 ca. 890 m a.s.l.

Course

Ribeiro Frio (descent from the road and over a small bridge); after about 150 metres, at one of these rectangular valve boxes, a small path comes down from Feiteiras. Later a pipe about 10 cm thick meets the levada from above. Here a trodden path goes up to the 2 old water tunnels. Another descent path from Feiteiras, a bridge at the crossing with the Ribeira do Poco do Bezerro (end of the Levada do Poco do Bezerro). The first tunnel comes at the underpass of the Cabeco Furado, at the junction of the Vereda da Terra Batista, which leads to Cruz or to the Pico do Suna. Then come 4 gallery tunnels; in places the path also runs outside the tunnels, on to the water house above Lamaceiros

End

Water house at Lamaceiros ca. 730 m a.s.l.

Function and use

• Originally: water supply for the Levada da Portela

• Today: water supply for the Levada da Portela, the Levada da Serra do Faial and the Levada da Serra da Santa Cruz

Access

• From the main road you get down to the levada directly past the restaurant and then over a bridge (3 minutes)

• From Feiteiras (approach from the ER-103) by a descent path. This can also be reached from 2 places on the ER-103 (towards the Poiso pass after the first bend and later directly from the hairpin bend)

• Descent along the water pipe of the two water tunnels (see below)

• Descent path from Feiteiras

• Descent from Feiteiras via the Levada do Poco do Bezerro

• Ascent from the Levada do Castelejo via the Vereda da Terra Batista

• Descent from the Pico do Suna

• Water house at Lamaceiros, reached via:

  • The Levada da Portela. The classic start with an information board from the east side is the Portela pass. Few parking spaces here too!

  • The Levada da Serra do Faial

  • ER-102 as far as Lombo das Faias, snack bar "Roques". Right beside the bar a tarmac road, later a gravel track, leads in a half-hour walk to the water house at "Lamaceiros"

  • Descent by various gravel tracks and the [MIUT-Trail](http://danishome.ch/Levada_do_Furado/Weg Ultra-Trail 2014.kmz) from the ER-202.

  • Gravel track from the ER-202

  • Gravel track from the ER-202

Condition

A varied walk, one of the most popular walks on Madeira, though in places a little exposed, but fitted with good rope protection.

Remarks

This levada is a brilliant masterpiece of the engineers and builders of the time. In places the channel was cut straight out of the rock, and it leads through dizzying cliffs. The tunnels too were chiselled into the rock by hand!

An insider tip: below Feiteiras there are 2 water tunnels, cut 20 and 100 metres into the mountain to tap water veins. Wonderfully colourful and mysterious! A pipe with a trodden path leads straight down the fall line into the Levada do Furado. Alternatively the tunnels, which are worth seeing, can be reached from Feiteiras on the way down by a somewhat overgrown path (access Feiteiras 3), a little more comfortably (access Feiteiras 2), and from the Furado on the way up via access Feiteiras 2 with the junction to the water tunnels. The ascent path Feiteiras 2 can also be started from 2 accesses off the ER-103. See the map!