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Trail guide · PR3

PR3 Levada do Pico Castelo

Porto Santo’s levada from Camacha to the Capela da Graça — closed for water-main works.

Checked against IFCN sources on July 26, 2026.

What IFCN’s register says today

Quoted from IFCN’s classified-routes register, updated July 24, 2026, and its notices feed, updated July 14, 2026. We read both on July 26, 2026.

Closed

Closed while works are carried out.

IFCN’s notice for this route carries no date of its own, so we do not print one.

This is a dated quotation, not a live mirror. Closures here are set off by weather and by works, and they change between our checks — so the date above is the whole of the promise. Open the notices feed on the morning you walk.

What the register publishes

Distance
4.1 km, one way.
Runs between
Camacha and Capela da Graça.
Island
Porto Santo
Managed by
IFCN — Instituto das Florestas e Conservação da Natureza

The thing people get wrong about this route

This is the one closure in the register with a stated cause: ARM is replacing supply mains along the levada’s walkway under the Porto Santo leak-reduction contract, and the route stays shut until that work finishes. Closed for a reason is closed with an end in sight, unlike PR7, PR20, PR27 and PR28.

What the register does not publish, for this route or any other

No difficulty grade, and no walking time. The official table has six columns — panel, code, name, distance, the places the route passes, its state and who manages it — and that is all of it. Durations exist on the physical panel at the trailhead; grades exist nowhere official at all. So a time or a “moderate” you read elsewhere came from a person, not from IFCN, and we do not repeat either.

IFCN publishes no difficulty grading for any Madeira trail. We checked three ways: the official register, the trail information panels, and the governing law — which contains no occurrence of the words for “difficulty” or “grade” at all.

Booking and fee

Outside the IFCN fee and booking regime, because IFCN — Instituto das Florestas e Conservação da Natureza manages it rather than IFCN. Nothing to pay, nothing to book, and nothing to find on SIMplifica if you go looking.

While the route is closed there is nothing to book: closed routes do not appear on SIMplifica at all. If you already hold a slot for a date on which IFCN had closed the route, that is the one case in which a refund or a new date is possible, and you have ten working days from the booking to ask.

This regime has been in force since January 1, 2026, under Portaria n.º 801/2025 as amended by Portaria n.º 48/2026.

Refunds essentially do not exist. Only an official closure qualifies. Wrong date, wrong trail, changed mind, rain, a cancelled flight, illness and missed transport are all explicitly excluded.

Back to trail tickets and fees

Where every figure on this page came from

Distance, waypoints, state and managing entity are IFCN’s classified-routes register, updated July 24, 2026. Closure detail is IFCN’s notices feed, updated July 14, 2026. Fees are IFCN’s own fees FAQ. Nothing here is a blog’s summary of any of those.

IFCN classifies 42 routes: 39 on Madeira and 3 on Porto Santo. The numbering has gaps — there is no PR24, PR25 or PR26 — which is why counts copied from other sites disagree.

Live right now

These are live cameras, not photographs. They start on their own as you reach them.

Out on the high plateau — the only live camera up there, and the catchment the 25 Fontes levada drains.

Camera operated by Portal Netmadeira

The road east, and the last shelter before the Ponta de São Lourenço trailhead.

Camera operated by Portal Netmadeira

The cameras are hosted on YouTube, so opening this page contacts Google. Nothing else on the page does.