Quatro Caminhos do Faial da Terra - São Miguel PRC40 SMI

This circular route through the village of Faial da Terra develops partially in the geosite of Caldeira of Povoação. Begin the walk at the center of the village and follow the marks by a road accessing agricultural fields. Along it you will cross several times the regional road, passing by the old whale watching tower, place used by the ancients to watch and locate the different cetaceans species.

Continue in an ascending sense passing by the regional road and by a dirt road, flanked by the traditional hedges done with Boxwood (Buxus sempervirens). Ahead you will find an intersection of two trails (PR 18 SMI – Vigia das Baleias and PRC 40 SMI – Quatro Caminhos do Faial da Terra), where you should choose to go straight and make a detour on the left hand side until Pico dos Bodes. In 2007, suffering urban and landscape requalification works, this space offers a panoramic view from Faial da Terra to the town of Vila Franca do Campo. Return the same way until the road and follow, left hand side, now is a descending sense towards Faial da Terra.

This part of the trail develops around a wood overtaken with Australian Cheesewood (Pittosporum undulatum), Japanese Cedar (Cryptomeria japonica) and pastures. At this stage, it is possible to profit from a view over Faial da Terra and Fajã do Calhau. At the final part of the trail, you can choose to make a detour until the village of Aldeia do Sanguinho, place in rebuilding, where you can find typical houses, small agricultural farms and several exemplars of Buckthorn (Frangula azorica), an Azorean endemic specie that gives its name to this place.

Go down the road, winding in cobblestone, carefully due to slippery ground and inclination degree until you reach the stream and afterwards the road until the main board, place where the trail ends. There is here, the possibility to connect to other points of the island through PRC 40 SMI – Quatro Caminhos do Faial da Terra, PRC 09 SMI – Sanguinho and PR11 SMI – Ribeira do Faial da Terra.