Levada Nova da Calheta

The Levada Nova da Calheta corresponds to the longest trail in the municipality of Calheta, extending approximately 40 km. Despite its extensive 40 km length, it's a route that doesn't offer significant altitude variations, being entirely traversed between 600 and 700 meters elevation.

Widely used by Madeirans to maintain physical fitness, the Levada Nova da Calheta, due to its extension, offers several access points throughout the municipality, passing through all parishes above 600 meters altitude, except for the parish of Arco da Calheta.

The parish of Arco da Calheta, however, has the Levada Nova do Arco da Calheta (inaugurated in 2015), resulting in a kind of continuity of the Levada Nova da Calheta project.

If you travel through the municipality of Calheta via regional roads between the parishes of Calheta, Estreito da Calheta, Prazeres, Fajã da Ovelha, and Ponta do Pargo, you'll easily find several crossings of this levada between the indicated elevations, understanding the reality of its extension. In this sense, if you don't wish to complete the entire route for physical, logistical, or other reasons, you can always partially traverse this "agricultural" levada and understand its surroundings.

The scenery you'll encounter when traversing each of the possible access points to the levada will be representative of the entire route, as there aren't many variations from the common scenery. You'll find large trees that once served for immediate reforestation of certain forest areas, such as eucalyptus and pine trees, as well as all the surrounding residential and agricultural zones.

At intervals, in the more humid sections of the route, it's possible to find some species of Madeira's Laurissilva, such as laurels and barbusanos, and you'll certainly cross dozens of streams and their tributaries, such as Ribeiras da Calheta, Marinheiros, Moinhos, Seca, Funda, among others.

Many cultivation fields can be found along the route, predominantly regional crops such as semilha (potato), sweet potato, green beans, as well as more local crops, such as subtropical cultures, highlighting fig trees, papaya trees, lemon trees, and apple trees.