Trails · Hard
Mistérios Negros
A hard circular climb through the bare black lava domes of Mistérios Negros, with a lava tunnel to explore at the finish.
Photo: Vitor Oliveira from Torres Vedras, PORTUGAL · CC BY-SA 2.0
This loop climbs through the Natural Reserve of Serra de Santa Bárbara and Mistérios Negros, starting on a road lined with common heather and Japanese cedar before entering open pasture and then a belt of endemic shrubland, Azorean heather, Azores juniper, Azorean blueberry and cape myrtle.
The path passes the three small Lagoinhas do Vale Fundo lakes, then crosses the black, bare trachytic domes left by the 1761 eruption, the trail's defining landscape, with views at the high point toward Pico Gordo, the island's central massif and Pico do Gaspar. It descends through a Japanese cedar wood bordered by pasture, past the geodetic pillar of Pico da Cancela, with an optional side trip to Pico do Gaspar, before returning on a forest road to the start, where the Gruta do Natal lava tunnel is worth a look.
It's rated hard despite covering only about 5 km in roughly two and a half hours, because the terrain is rough and the route climbs and drops around 170 m across bare lava and dense shrub rather than open ground.
Elevation · from the official GPX
Up and down the trail
Plan your walk · MET Norway & IPMA
When to go
Pick a start time. We forecast where you'll be each hour — 543 m at the lowest point, 646 m at the top.
Official facts, our words
What to know
Trail facts
Difficulty Hard- Length
- 5.2 km
- Duration
- 2 hr 30 min
- Elevation gain
- 173 m
- Route
- Circular
- Highest point
- 646 m
- Steepest descent
- 17% at km 3.3
- Start
- Lagoa do Negro
- Finish
- Lagoa do Negro
- Permit
- Not required
- Trail code
- PRC01TER
Route and facts © Azores trails network (visitazores.com)
