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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.

Considered by many one of the most beautiful advertisement posters of Madeira the Levadas and the Veredas (footpaths) promote a pure interaction with nature. The municipality of Santana has over 120km footpaths with different levels of difficulty, which present the visitor with the possibility to enjoy the true natural values of the fauna, flora, geology and biodiversity, to contemplate the landscape, to acknowledge the cultural richness of the sites and to interact with the local population.

Vereda_Pico_Ruivo

Pico Ruivo Footpath

Levada_Rei

"Levada (water canal) of Ribeiro Bonito" or "Levada do Rei"

Levada_Caldeirao_Verde

"Caldeirão Verde Levada (water canal)"