The splendour of the footpaths makes hiking probably the most practised sport amongst the people of Madeira and the thousands of tourists that visit the Autonomous Region of Madeira every year.

Hiking in nature is commonly designated by the population as Levadas, named after the irrigation channels, which extend to over 1.000km along the island and frequently accompany the footpaths. These Levadas were built to transport and distribute water from the high altitudes to the lower agricultural areas.